


Until The End of the Line

by oliverreeve



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Porn, Gavin Reed Backstory, Gavin Reed Redemption, M/M, Panic Attacks, Slow Burn, Soft Upgraded Connor | RK900
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-06-21 12:28:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 44,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15557721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oliverreeve/pseuds/oliverreeve
Summary: In the aftermath of the failed android rebellion, androids have been recalled. However there are still cases of android related homicides. Hank is dead and the RK800 model Connor has been returned to Cyberlife after completing his mission. In their absence, Gavin Reed is paired with one of the few remaining androids, RK900 to investigate these crimes. Unbeknownst to Gavin, who is hellbent on proving his worth to a precinct that has turned its back on him, following this string of missing persons will unlock secrets to a past he has tried to keep hidden.Hank Anderson's death, a man he used to look up to and aspired to be like, has triggered remnants from his past to resurface. This proves to be detrimental to his job and now he is on track to lose everything. Will RK900 sacrifice his new partner in order to complete his mission, or will he be the key to helping Gavin get his life back on track?





	1. Reunited

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all, this is my first attempt at fiction.  
> The intention behind this is that I wanted to try and humanize Gavin Reed as best as I could. As much of an asshole as he is in the game, I was disappointed that there wasn't an option to try and win him over. I also didn't like how one dimensional he was so part of this is trying to create a compelling backstory that'll give some insight into him as a character and hopefully alleviate his one note antagonist archetype. This is all new to me so I appreciate any feedback. I know the writing style won't appeal to everyone but it's something that I want to have a go at.  
> Please note that this is probably going to take a while. I am currently around 5k words that have been basically setup for the main story. It’s definitely going to be a super slow burn but I’m hoping that it’ll make the payoff that much more awesome. I’m planning on updating once a week or two as these take awhile to do especially with a day job.  
> Also there is a F/M relationship going on and F/F to a lesser extent but the main focus of this is the relationship between Gavin and RK900 so that's why it's tagged M/M only.

     Gavin Reed stood, shoulder propped up against a white oak, arms folded. His scuffed up leather jacket that sat on his 5’9” frame kept the chill at bay. His hood was pulled low over his eyes as though he were trying to sink into the bark. There were a light suggestion of clouds in the sky that periodically blocked out the sun causing the rays of sunlight to ebb and flow. A small crowd had gathered around the burial plot. Hank kept a very small circle. The crowed was filled with a majority of colleagues, him being one of them. He hung back further than everyone else but stayed within earshot. Though not mandatory Jeffrey Fowler, the precinct captain, made it clear that attendance was strongly encouraged.  Gavin and Hank never really got along. It was almost an affront to his memory that he was even there at all given their hostile relationship. But the distance Gavin kept from the procession settled his unease.

     They all wore somber expressions, though which were genuine he couldn’t say. A well dressed priest adorned in a black suit read flowery text that held no meaning for Gavin, much less Hank he presumed. Hank didn’t seem to believe in much of anything after Cole’s death other than the inevitability of his own. Hank was typically a solo operation before Cyberlife sent that husk. The time they spent together was brief but even Gavin noticed the change in Hank. He started to arrive at work on time. He was more boisterous than usual. He began to value something other than himself. Why it took an android to bring it out of him Gavin couldn’t understand. He had a hard enough time trying to connect with other humans with unpredictable personalities let alone androids that had a fixed one.

     The details of Hank’s death were unclear. His body was found on Congress & Woodward outside of the Qube building close to where the rebel androids staged their revolution. His blood was splattered all over the roof and there were signs of a struggle. The RK800 android “Connor” was nowhere to be found. Connor was with him when it happened but Gavin assumed that Cyberlife reclaimed him as soon as the recall notice was sent. Markus, the leader of the android rebellion was shot by Connor after the Jericho raid. The android North took Markus’s place in the revolution and fought the officers defending the camps. She was gunned down by Connor. The camps were still disassembling the androids they rounded up. The city was still fearful of how unpredictable androids had become yet a considerable portion of the population were still holding on to the ones they had. The recall had crippled the city from functioning.  The service androids under the city’s employ were discontinued. Despite the fear, city officials wanted to keep them around rather than having to hire a brand new workforce yet due to public pressure, they had no choice. Most of the shops were temporarily closed as store owners had to hire humans.

     The precinct wasn’t immune from the sudden shift either. The humans that moved up into senior positions had to double their efforts and pick up the slack that was left when all the android officers were recalled. As much as he hated competing with machines, having to do the mind numbing grunt work angered him even more. He was better than this. He was a detective for fucks sake. He felt like that was where his talents were best exploited. This was a step back. He got what he wanted and now he was feeling the effects of it.

     “Would anyone like to say a few words?” The priest said, pulling Gavin from his thoughts. Arms folded he straightened himself then sank a shoulder back into the oak tree. Fowler was standing next to the priest to the right of the coffin along with a row of officers. He was holding a leather strap attached to Hank’s dog Sumo. Sumo silently draped himself in front of the coffin. Despite his size, he was completely dwarfed by its size. He could still hear the dog’s labored breathing over the sound of the rustling leaves. A part of him wondered what his funeral would look like. Who would attend, the things that people would say. He hadn’t kept in touch with his parents after their fallout. He didn’t really have anyone he considered friends. A part of him also didn’t really care about the outcome. He was too focused on establishing himself in the ways he knew how. His accomplishments at work were the barometer for success. He didn’t have a lot in his life to be proud of but the way he excelled at his job was indicative that something was going right. Hank used to be a roadblock to that success, and now he was gone.

     Fowler glanced back to where Gavin was standing as no one was volunteering to be the first to speak. Gavin shot him an incredulous look, he wasn’t going to feign sympathy because Hank was dead. The truth was that there was no connection between them other than work. Hank had actively blocked him from a lieutenant promotion. He said that he didn’t feel like Gavin was ready, that he didn’t have enough experience to manage the lives of other officers that depended on his decisions. He said that Gavin was volatile, self centered, and incapable of being objective. Objectively speaking, Gavin hated Hank for stifling his potential and as a result, couldn’t find the words that were contrary to how he felt. Fowler exhaled a deep sigh and shook his head slightly in disappointment.

     Officer Chris Miller stepped forward and approached the coffin. Adorned in a crisp black suit, a black tie and a cerulean shirt, he brushed his hand slightly on the wooden frame before turning to face the rest of the team. The sunlight glinted in his eyes that were trying to keep the dam from breaking. Looking down at the emerald grass beneath his feet, he took a breath before speaking.

     “Hank Anderson was one of the best men I knew. He was like a second father to me. He was my mentor when I first arrived at the DPD. He was there when I married my wife. He was there when my son was born. He was always there for me and I wish that I could have repaid the debt his generosity left. He changed after he lost his son yet despite the front he put up, he cared about his team. He cared about us. Hell, he even cared about Connor. We could all do to learn from where he succeeded and where he failed. We’re all part of a team and I’m willing to pay forward the gift he gave me. But he kept shit close to the chest and it took a toll on him. We all saw it. Don’t make the same mistakes he did because it’s easy to sink into that hole. I just wish I could have done more to show him that we gave a damn… I just wish…” The barricade started to recede and the flood gates had opened. Chris swallowed hard before trying to speak again. “I just wish…” he looked up towards the sky, desperately trying to seek help from some unseen force. He didn’t expect to be hit with a sudden sense of loss but when no one was willing to speak on Hank’s behalf, he felt anger start to well up. He didn’t know if they were aware of the kind of man Hank was but he was going to make sure they knew what he meant to him. If he could only manage to speak then he could.

     A considerable force pressed itself against Chris’s leg drawing his attention from the sky. He looked down to find Sumo pawing his thigh. Hushed whines muffled in his throat as he looked up to Chris trying to provide him with the reassurance he was searching for. Chris blinked the tears from his eyes before wiping them away with his sleeve. He knelt down, cupped the Sumo’s head into his palms and inhaled the familiar scent from the rare instances when he and Hank would watch the game at his house. He regained some composure from the familiarity of the scent and the reassurance of Sumo’s presence. There was still a connection to Hank left in the world. Looking at the dog’s forlorn eyes Chris stroked Sumo’s face with his thumbs and muttered, “I just wish he was still here.”

     Chris stood upright, as difficult as it was. He became suddenly embarrassed at the vulnerability he displayed in front of his colleagues but he pushed it from his mind. If there was anything that he learned from the androids is that humans were afforded the gift to feel these emotions. Why work to suppress these feelings that naturally surfaced? His friend was dead in front of him. Who cared what any of his colleagues thought? His steps were labored but he fell back into line next to Fowler who silently placed a hand on his shoulder for a moment before letting it fall back to his side. The rest of the attendants gave him small gestures of silent support before returning their attention to the priest who resumed his speech.

     Gavin was uncomfortable by the whole display. He had been to several funerals in his lifetime considering his line of work but never one that had that significant of an impact. The traces of one however started to breach the surface of his memory. Though it wasn’t exactly a death, it was still a significant loss. One that he grieved for years before the pangs of guilt began to subside. The memory of it never completely disappeared but he actively tried to suppress it if only to maintain his sanity. It was the only loss he suffered that still weighed heavily on him but he was desperate to avoid revisiting that moment. So he began filling in the cracks of his mind that were pouring out the dark sediment from the other side. Brick by brick he began to mentally wall off the thought. That was over and done with. All that mattered was the present.

     “And so we say our final goodbyes to our friend, colleague, and mentor who was taken before his time. Remember him as he was, for he wouldn’t want us to dwell in loss, but to revel in the life we still have left to live. Hank is still present in all of us through the wisdom he shared, the lives of the citizens he saved, and the memories we still have. He risked his life for the city he loved because he believed it could be better. Let’s try and continue the legacy he left behind.” Everyone watched as the motorized straps holding up the coffin began to slowly lower it into the grave. Sumo began to quietly howl as Fowler tightened his grip on the leash lest he jump in after Hank. Chris slowly began to lose the composure he tried to maintain as it hit the ground making a thud that reverberated throughout the premise. The caretakers pulled the straps out and one by one, the crowd cupped a handful of dirt before tossing it in the crevasse. The sound of granules scattering over the lid echoed until they became nothing more than muted thuds. Everyone went to their respective cars and drove off. Fowler gave Gavin a curt nod of acknowledgement before heading off with Sumo. He hadn’t moved from his place next to the oak tree. The event was over as quickly as it had began and very little of it registered with him. His mind was somewhere else. He continued to linger as he watched the caretakers shovel the remaining dirt into the hole. When they finished Gavin turned away from the scene and started the walk back to his car.

_So long fucker_ , he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading through the first chapter. I’m currently working on chapter 3 but I wanted to post this to sort of gauge interest. Chapter 2 will be posted August 12.  
> I’m sorry if Hank’s death doesn’t sit well with people. I didn't want to kill anyone but I wanted to try and stay true to a path in the game that leads to RK900 being revealed. I tried to do it with a pacifist ending where Connor and Hank are friends but even if Connor remains a machine and shoots Markus after they achieve android freedom, you don’t get the mid-credit scene. So as a result: Markus dies in Jericho, North takes over and has her murder spree, Connor doesn’t kill Hank on the rooftop but Hank falls anyway if you try to save him, Connor kills North, RK900 comes into play. I know you can replace Hank on the rooftop with Captain Allen but I wanted Hank and Connor to be friends which unfortunately means that Hank dies. I’m sorry to all the Hank & Connor fans out there but I hope that it won’t deter you from the rest of the story.


	2. Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank's death seems to have had more of an affect on Gavin than he thought, though he doesn't know if it's because of Hank himself or what it's making him think of. He loses someone from his present but gains someone from his past. Unfortunately for him, it's not someone he's happy to hear from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This introduces an original character to help ground the existing characters. I didn't want to write Gavin and RK900 in an isolated world. They're still the main focus but there will be several original characters in the upcoming chapter.

                The sun slowly sank beneath the horizon igniting a cascading tapestry of yellow that bled into red that bled into gentle wafts of violet. Gavin sat in his refurbished ’95 RX-7 overlooking the skyline of downtown Detroit. He adjusted his titanium aviator shades and took a moment to absorb the sight. The light was making its departure and so he motioned to make his own. The procession had taken its toll on him and he could feel his mental doors begin to creak at the hinges. Their latchkeys began to sing in a cacophonous harmony. Gavin inadvertently began walking down the dark hall of doors towards the end. He could only see the highlight of door knobs and lacquered frames. Murky liquid began to pool around his footsteps until the ground started to become a gelatinous paste, yet he continued to walk forward. He walked down this path before yet all he could do was stare. The day’s events had propelled him forward into an area he didn’t want to explore. The humid air was thick making it difficult to breath but his destination was soon within arm’s length.

Before him stood a makeshift door compiled of what looked to be driftwood. The space between the grain was significant, as though they were strands of twine fused together. Their sharp ends twisted and writhed out into the hallway as though beckoning to embrace him. Despite the alarms blaring for him to abandon this voyage into depths of uncertainty, something compelled him to gently place an inquisitive hand on one of the protruding branches. The sound of the latchkey chains abated until he could feel a subtle pulsing emanating from the door. The cadence felt almost like a heartbeat. Without shifting his position, he allowed his free hand to glide up towards his neck and placed two fingers over his jugular. The pulses weren’t in sync. The ones coming from the door were more frantic. Then gradually, what was once a sensation beneath his finger tips became an imposing force as the pulses shifted into desperate knocks from the other side of the door. Gavin leaned in closer to hear and as he did, the tips of the branches began to collide together and slowly encase his body. Fear and panic took control as he began lashing out trying to distance himself from being succumbed. The branch he had placed his hand on was wrapped around his wrist cutting off the circulation. He desperately lifted his leg and pressed against the door straining with all his might to push himself free. “Help…” he could hear behind the door. “Please, help me…”

                Tears stained his vision as he violently thrust his foot against the door again and propelled himself down towards the floor. A sharp pain emanated from his shoulder and blossomed into the rest of his limbs as he shot forward from his seat screaming protestations. His arms broke the impact between the weight of his force and the steering wheel. The drone of the car’s horn drifted into his consciousness as he began to take stock of his surroundings. His hands shot up from the wheel releasing the horn’s cries. Breath cautiously began to seep its way into his lungs producing a damp sweat that permeated his cognizant skin and as the dust seemed to settle, he opened the car door and vomited onto the asphalt of the parking lot.

                He took a moment to regain his composure. He felt like he was having a heart attack but he knew better. Allowing his hands to fall onto the seat, he gripped the sides. The leather grinding into his fingertips as his heartbeat raced. His rigid body fell back into the seat as he tried to calm his erratic breathing.

A long breath through his nose.

_one… two… three…_

Exhaled through gritted teeth.

                He repeated this until the fight left his body. He turned the car key and silenced the engine that was still running. Drained of all energy, he stared out towards the horizon as tears meekly found their way across his face. It had been years since he needed to quell that particular storm. It was such a prominent feature in his life at one point that he never thought he’d be rid of it. And for a brief moment in time he was. He wasn’t constantly worried about having contingency plans or making excuses to avoid certain situations. He didn’t have to fight the embarrassment that ignited his anger when people would ask if he was feeling alright. He could just live in the moment without this lingering sense of dread gnawing at his fingertips. But maybe that momentary reprieve was just a precursor for something worse over the horizon. Frustrated, he beckoned the car back to life and drove out of the cemetery.

\---

                Gavin pulled up to his apartment building in the Rivertown warehouse district. The street lined the Detroit River with sparse lighting. Despite being able to see the downtown lights, the neighborhood felt oddly removed as though time had slowed and preserved the brick ruins lining the coast. Some of the dock warehouses however had been converted to living spaces. The shoddiness of the area suited him just fine from a financial and an aesthetic vantage point. Despite the dangers the job entailed, detectives made due on their modest salaries. He wasn’t a stranger to harsh living conditions either. He left home when he was 16 and subsisted off the streets until he met Truman and entered the police academy. He appreciated the versatility that the academy and his work experience gave him when deciding on a place to settle. He also had a habit of never making things too easy on himself.

                Attached to the façade of the building was a formidable shutter garage door that lifted at his arrival. The ramp led up into an 800 square foot loft apartment where he parked his car. The headlights lit the practically vacant space. There was a couch and a coffee table situated in the corner directly across from where the car was parked. A staircase led to an exposed platform that jutted out over half of the room housed a solitary mattress haphazardly thrown on the floor. It had been awhile since he moved in but the walls were lined with moving boxes that were started to collect dust. He noticed a figure standing in the kitchen area on the western wall that faced the river. Turning off the lights, he killed the engine, took a deep breath and walked across the expanse towards the bathroom. The west wall had floor to ceiling windows that were 16 feet tall framed by exposed brick. The view of the river is what sold him on the place. Faced away from the city he could momentarily distance himself from everything it entailed. Work, obligations, distractions, he could ignore all of it.

                The figure came into view as he walked closer. A slender yet robust woman stood near the window draped in the tungsten street lights that set her dewy skin ablaze. She held a glass bottle that she brought up to her full lips before settling it back down on the black cast iron countertop. She wore an olive tank top that placed her toned arms on display. She had black knee high boots adorned with gold accents that were place firmly on the ground. A detective badge was hooked on her belt over her right pocket. A leather holster contained a glock 19 on her left side. The sides of her hair were braided up into a loose mohawk with gold accents. Her gaze was directed out towards the water yet when Gavin approached, she looked down at the streetlamps. He took notice of it and strode past her and towards the bathroom. Neither one of them attempted to bridge the gap. He flicked on the harsh fluorescent light that reflected off the white interior. Before him was a rather large mirror that was scratched up on the outer edges. Rust from the metal backing was bleeding through the silver. He splashed cold water on his face and started to brush his teeth trying to get the stench of vomit out. His gaze glided across the scar brandished on the bridge of his nose. As much as he tried to forget the past, he had a permanent reminder affixed to his face. He stared at the dark circles underneath his eyes that became more prominent as the android protests started to increase. An increasing amount of deviancy started to occur as Markus began to assimilate more to his cause and this caused DPD to become inundated with calls from the public who became afraid of their androids violating their programming as well. As much as he hated the fucker, Connor did them a favor when he shot Markus. The revolt claimed the lives of several officers that left a foul taste in his mouth. However, despite the rampant fear that came during the deviancy spike and the revolt that proceeded after, there were still a significant portion of the population that supported what android rebellion was trying to accomplish. Public support was more than half before they started to attack. This put him on edge as now humans were actively trying to hide the androids they still had and at any moment, they could deviate.

He knew there was only one reason why she’d be here but showing up like this without a heads up was unusual. Kennedy Adesina used to work at his precinct. They both started off as rookies and both had Hank as their lieutenant. She took more to Hank than he did. Before the android rebellion, they were partners for a few years before she left for another precinct. She never explained her reasons as to why other than that she “needed a change” and that things got too stagnant. He didn’t have much in the way of friends and she was the closest thing to it. He didn’t know how much he had missed their connection until she called him out of the blue to propose that they have a friends-with-benefits arrangement. She was in a long term relationship with a woman named Marina. They were open and Kennedy asked Gavin to be an assistant to her satisfaction. He all but jumped at the opportunity. The fact that she was in a relationship was almost like a safety net for him. He wasn’t interested in a relationship nor was he looking to fall into one and as beautiful as Kennedy was, he couldn’t see himself settling down with her much less anyone. He valued his independence far too much to have to consider the needs of someone else. The success he had career wise was propelled by him not having any attachments so as far as he was concerned, the job was all there was to satisfy his needs. But if she was offering the opportunity to provide some no strings fun, he had little reason to refuse.

He spat out the toothpaste, rinsed, and patted his face dry. Before he shut off the light and marched back into the kitchen to see why Kennedy was here. His steps echoed against the vaulted ceilings yet she was still gazing out over the horizon. His eyes adjusted to the darkness as he walked past her to retrieve a beer out of the fridge for himself. This seemed like a conversation that shouldn’t happen sober. “So, Kennedy, to what do I owe the pleasure? I assume you’re not in the mood since you haven’t even taken your boots off.” She quietly smiled to herself before turning to face him and calmly said, “So I received a call from Fowler asking why I wasn’t at the funeral. I said, ‘I’m sorry, what funeral? Who died?’ and do you know what he told me? He said that Hank died after he fell 14 floors off a building. A week ago Gavin. We just saw each other like 2 days ago and you didn’t think to bring it up then?”  A bemused smirk still streaked across her face but even in the dark he could see that her eyes were fighting back an internal maelstrom. They weren’t strangers to confrontation, especially in their line of work, but rarely was the target of her ire directed at him in this way.

“We were preoccupied. I didn’t want to ruin the mood,” he said in a matter of fact demeanor. The news of Hank’s death sent the precinct in stasis mode and the halt in momentum made Gavin uneasy. As much as he was at odds with Hank, he didn’t relish in his death, it just didn’t seem to pierce the veil for him as it did for others. All he could focus on was what was in front of him and with the android officers gone, he had a lot on his plate. “Take a note, if one of my friends die, I think that’s a pretty substantial reason to speak up and say ‘hey, maybe we shouldn’t be fucking today because Hank just died.’” Her cool started to break before she desperately tried to reign it back in. She took a breath before speaking again. “You didn’t even like him and you went to his funeral without even saying anything to me.”

“If you guys were really friends then you wouldn't have had to wait for me to tell you that he's dead.”

“Ok. Wow. Fuck off Gavin.” The valve to her inner turmoil had been released and her voice started to vibrate against the enclosed space, all directed towards Gavin. “You know, if I wanted to fuck a stranger I would have picked someone up off the street. I had to convince Marina to let me fuck you because I thought it would be different with a friend. She didn’t approve of you but I defended you because I thought you’d be better than some random person. I didn't know you'd ditch the friend part and just accept the benefits.”

“What the fuck Kennedy, we're not in a relationship. Why should I have to tell you anything? We agreed it would just be sex.”

“So that’s how you view our relationship? Just sex?”

“I _just_ said we’re not in a relationship.”

“What do you think a friendship is? Just because we’re not romantically involved doesn’t mean that I’d reduce what we have to just sex. We’ve worked together for years. Hank trained both of us. I know he didn’t mean anything to you but he meant something to me. I just figured that with everything we’ve been through you’d be discerning enough to know that this was something worth mentioning. But clearly I’ve overestimated the value of our arrangement.”

Gavin could feel where this was going and decided to beat her to the punch. “Door’s over there. Feel free to use it.”

She shook her head in disbelief. Her nostrils flared as she curtly exhaled. The storm inside began to subside and a tincture of defeat and betrayal began to emanate throughout her body. She began to storm off towards the door before she stopped mid stride. “You know, one of these days you’re gonna hit a point when everything you’ve been avoiding is gonna catch up to you. I just hope for your sake when that happens, ‘cause it’s gonna happen, that you haven’t alienated everyone that ever gave a damn about you.” This caused a lump to form in the base of his throat. “Don’t speak on things you have no business poking your head into.” She laughed in resignation. “I know I’m not the only one who comes by here to get their needs met.”

“That’s none of your business and you’d best watch who you’re mouthing off to because as “awful a friend” as you think I am, I can be an even worse enemy.” This elicited an abrupt laugh out of her. “Mon pauvre p'tit gars, you think the world is out to get you but the only person you need to worry about is yourself. Try as I may, you can do yourself more harm than I can.” She took the keys to his apartment and placed them on one of the moving boxes that were piled up next to the front entrance. “And unpack your shit for fuck’s sake. You’ve been living here for 3 months already,” she said as she descended the stairs to the ground level.

                Gavin finally let out an exhale. He didn’t know what to expect from their conversation but it certainly wasn’t this. He walked over towards the window to see her mounting her motorcycle. The engine roared on the desolate street. He could feel the vibrations through his walls as he watched her taillights fade into the distance. He inhaled the rest of his beer before collapsing on his bed that was situated in the center of the east wall. He took his phone out of his pocket to charge and he noticed two missed calls from a number he didn’t recognize. They left a message that he let play on speaker. “Hey Gavin... it’s mom.” He immediately hit 7 to delete it. He hadn’t heard her voice in over 22 years and the sudden shock of it sent a wave of panic in him that coursed throughout his veins. “Next message.” The automated voicemail didn’t give him a chance to steady his nerves before the past came back in full force. “Gavin please, just cal“ He hit 7 again and hung up the phone. There was only so much he could deal with in the span of 24 hours.  He hoped that sleep would eradicate the day’s exhausting events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read through chapter 1. I will be uploading chapter 3 soon in conjunction with this as a result just to get to RK900's introduction because that's what we're all here for.


	3. Succession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin's anger gets the better of him when he is introduced to his new partner and it's starting to dawn on him how low his colleagues opinion of him is.

                The bright lights of the precinct greeted him though later than usual. He strode into the building and nodded at Jalice at reception. “How’s it going Jalice?” He said in a hoarse voice. “Doing fine Gavin, all things considered. You sleeping alright? Yesterday must’a been hard.” She said in a concerned tone. “Everything’s great. Have a good day now.” He said with a smile in his voice that immediately dissipated as soon as he passed through the glass security gates. While he enjoyed that there was a human at reception he could talk to again, he didn’t appreciate her prying into how he felt about yesterday. What was he supposed to say that wouldn’t make him look like even more of an asshole. He went to his funeral already for fucks sake. He took off his gym bag and threw it underneath his desk. He pulled out the chair and collapsed onto the seat. He looked around at the open office that was practically empty. The line of androids that were propped up against the center wall were all gone. The androids that stood guard along the outline of the office were gone. He glanced over to see that they had already cleared Hank’s desk off. It had been years since he last saw it that way. He was suddenly struck with the passage of time and how far he had come since he first stepped foot in this place. He still possessed the same ambition. It was the same ambition that he shared with Hank, or at least he thought they did.

                Gavin was fresh out of the police academy and he saw what Hank was able to accomplish within his time at the precinct. He was a part of the Red Ice Task Force that made a huge dent in the distribution of the stuff. He led an operation that led to seizing over $500,000 worth of red ice and was promoted to lieutenant the following year. He was what Gavin aspired to be. He was determined to make something of himself to prove himself to everyone who doubted his abilities and watching Hank’s success was what made all of it seem possible. Yet after Cole died, all of that momentum just halted. It wasn’t sudden but the gradual spiral Hank fell down was apparent to everyone who knew him before the accident. Gavin knew loss and clawed his way out of it. He fought homelessness for 2 years but he made his way out and he was standing in the same place that forged the men he so admired. If he could do it why couldn’t Hank? Gavin sighed a heavy sigh pushing all those memories to the back of his mind. He didn’t have time to dwell on the past especially with the long task list to attend to. He took off his aviators and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before logging in to his terminal.

                Before Gavin could check the laundry list of menial tasks he was assigned, he noticed people filing into the conference room that was situated close to his desk along the outer wall next to the break room. “Reed! Department meeting in 5.” Fowler had yelled from behind his glass door before letting it close on its own. He racked his brain trying to figure out what could constitute a meeting like this out of the blue. Since the androids were gone everyone in the office had taken to policing the streets more than they used to. Break ins in commercial spaces had become a common occurrence as the androids that used to patrol the spaces were gone and had yet to be replaced. He didn’t know how to feel about it. While they served their purpose with the menial tasks, it was a slippery slope from replacing customer service jobs, to jobs like his. Hell, Hank’s lapdog would have probably replaced him eventually, especially given Hank’s decline in enthusiasm. He figured this was the price to pay to keep humans as the dominant species.  

                He took a seat in the back of the room as he didn’t feel up to being alert and present. The room filled up with the rest of the officers. As much as he hated to admit it, Hank’s death was getting to him. He didn’t know if it was because of Hank himself or if it’s because of what it was making him think about. It had been years since he visited his brother Ethan. He used to see him often just to fill him in on the details of his life. He just wanted to be in the same room with him, to hold his hand to let him know he was there. It was the only time he felt like his guard was down and that he could truly be seen for who he was, and his brother, for all he knew, didn’t even know he was there. However, there was a part of him that felt the unrelenting weight of responsibility every time he entered the ward that led to his room. The stark white hallways were often deserted as he waited until late into the night before he’d visit Ethan. He’d tracked when his parents would visit in an effort to avoid running into them. Anger occupied too much of his heart for there to be any space for them after what they did. He thought the anger would subside eventually but as the days since he last saw them increased, so did the resentment that started to take root within his chest.

                “I wanted to say thank you to everyone that came to the funeral yesterday.” Fowler said standing at the front of the conference room, the timbre of his voice propelled Gavin back to the present. “We lost a vital asset and more importantly a friend.” Fowler slowly exhaled a breath as he became lost in thought. Chris who sat up front broke the silence, “Were there any updates regarding how it happened?” Fowler slowly nodded his head, “Cyberlife handed over the footage recorded by Connor who was there when it happened. It showed that Hank’s fall was of his own doing.”

                “Bullshit.” Chris said unwittingly. “There were signs of a struggle on the roof, did the footage show anything regarding that?” The other officers murmured in agreement. Gavin tried to maintain a stoic demeanor but the possibility of a suicide didn’t cross his mind. He knew Hank was depressed but he didn’t think that he would actually do something like that. “There was no indication of a struggle shown in the footage,” Fowler continued. “We haven’t ruled anything out but we’re considering the possibility that it was self inflicted. There are still a lot of unknowns and the data from Connor was the one good lead we had to know what was going on. We’re still working with Cyberlife as well as pursuing other avenues to gather more details into what might have happened but as of now, it’s too soon to say.” Jessica Gonzalez, a rookie straight out of the academy followed up, “What happened to his android? Why haven’t we’ve been able to question it?”

                “Connor was recalled along with the rest of the officer androids when Cyberlife gave the notice. The android rebellion diverted all of the attention of not only the local officers but officers outside of the city as well. After the rebellion ended, the President along with Cyberlife issued the recall which included Connor. No one was even aware where Hank was at that point. However we’re doing all we can to try and acquire Connor for further inquiry. Believe me, we’re not giving up on this.”

                “He just laid there for hours and no one knew…” Chris muttered to himself. His partner Anthony Zorzi who sat next to him put a firm reassuring hand on his shoulder for a moment. “Hang in there man, there wasn’t anything we could have done.” Chris was trying to shake off the frustration that started to billow up in his fists.

                “Back to the matter at hand,” Fowler continued trying to quell the growing discomfort with the reassurance of work. “There have been a string of missing persons that have recently caught our attention. Initially they appeared unrelated, however by the second and the third it became apparent that they were targeting Cyberlife personnel.”

 _Serves them right, the bastards,_ Gavin thought to himself.

                “I’ll turn it over to our guest who will be temporarily aiding the investigation.” Fowler gestured out to a woman who was standing outside of the briefing room. She walked in and stood next to Fowler, her stature barely reaching his shoulders. She wore a loose fitted bun that sat atop her head and sharp bangs that hung just above eye level. She wore gold hoop earrings, a white blouse with a red polka dot pattern that cascaded out of form fitted high waisted black pants. She held a tablet that controlled the holo-display at the front of the room.

                “Hello everyone, my name is Luciana Alvaro and I’m the representative sent by Cyberlife. I’m here to provide insight into the investigation. So far 3 people have been reported missing all of which seem to be heads of their respective divisions: Carol Summers who supervises Data Management, Alexander Sokolov who supervises the Biochemical Research division, and Jia Li who supervises the Neural Mapping Research division. Other than the fact that they all are top level of their divisions and that they work for Cyberlife, we can’t make out a connection as to why these three would be targeted, nor does it give us a clear idea of who will be next. Right now all we know is that they all disappeared without any signs of forced entry and no signs of a struggle. In the Sokolov case however there was security camera footage of Sokolov exiting the parking structure of his apartment building.” She gestured on her tablet and brought up the footage on the holo-display, dimming the lights. Black and white grainy security camera footage played. It showed an exterior view of the parking garage exit. A car encased in shadow drove towards the camera and came to a stop as the security gate lifted. Two figures sat in the car one of which had a visible LED light that indicated it was an android. The car pulled out of the garage onto the street and drove out of view.

                “An hour later, the vehicle returns with only the android inside, Sokolov is nowhere to be found.” Luciana said as she brought up the additional footage. “Wait what was that?” Gavin said from the back. “Good eye,” Luciana said. She zoomed in closer to the notable area. The figure exited the vehicle and could be seen walking across the parking garage to enter the building. There were now 3 glowing lights. “Are those its eyes?” Gavin said.

                “We believe so. We don’t know why this is the case as the eyes weren’t designed to behave this way. When officers arrived, the android was found standing near the front door of the apartment completely unresponsive. When the responding officers tried to elicit a response, it came to, the eyes dimmed, and reacted as though it had no recollection of what had happened. Officers tried to question it but it was insistent that it didn’t know anything. It has been brought back to Cyberlife for analysis and we’re working with the DPD to see what can be recovered from the logs.” Luciana glanced over to Fowler before speaking. “Since this seems to be centered around Cyberlife employees, we’re providing a prototype android to help assist. RK900, may you come in here please?” From outside the door opened to a soft murmur of voices and uncomfortable shifting in seats. Walking towards the front was an android that was the spitting image of Connor. His distinctly white high collar jacket with black trim was much more of a statement than the standard black that Connor wore. He towered over Fowler and Luciana. He had a neutral but stern gaze that absentmindedly stared down and off to the side at nothing in particular. Though he very much resembled Connor, the grey of his eyes were unsettling, as though they were searching deeper than was possible.

                “Jeff, what the fuck?” Gavin spouted.

                “Is… Is this ok?” said officer Cunningham. “What about the recall notice?”

                “We’re working with DHS & Cyberlife here. They’ve given the ok for newer models to help tie up the loose ends caused by deviancy. Obviously the older models we had working as officers had to be recalled as they were susceptible to class 4 errors. Also if you haven’t noticed, we’re short on staff so we need all the help we can get. The faster we can cut down on these deviant incidents the sooner we can get back to some semblance of normalcy. The city isn’t safe with a handful of tired and overworked cops,” Fowler said.

                “And you think it’ll be safer with another one of these fucking things?! Did you forget that a hoard of them attacked and killed a number of cops when they tried to storm the camps? For fucks sake,” Gavin said fuming.

                “To save their own!” Chris spoke up. “You act as though they just started murdering people out of nowhere. A group of them surrounded me and Zorzi after we killed a bunch of them. They wanted revenge but Markus stepped in and called them off. Yeah people died, but we pulled the trigger first.” Chris spoke with more resolve than he had at the funeral. He looked at Gavin defiantly. “Oh fuck you. You’d rather them massacre humans to save a bunch of glorified computers? You’re insane. They should have killed you and Zorzi when you got yourselves caught.” The vitriol spewed from Gavin’s mouth. “The fuck did you say?” Zorzi shot up and stepped between Chris and Gavin. Chris jumped up and put a hand on Zorzi’s shoulder to hold him back just as Gavin stood to meet his gaze. His chest puffed out in defiance.

                “Enough!” Fowler yelled. “Sit down, all of you! You want to have your human versus android debates you can do it on your own time. Right now we’re trying to prevent more lives being lost. We can’t change what has happened but we can focus on the here and now.”

                “Come on man, don’t let him get to you,” Chris whispered to Zorzi. His words rippled through Zorzi and it seemed to placate his anger. He huffed and sat back down, turning in such a way to avoid all eye contact with Gavin. Chris just shook his head in disappointment and sat back down. Gavin was still full of fight and with a dismissive hand he remained standing and leaned against the back wall folding his arms. He was too amped to sit.

                “Well now, since Hank and Connor were heading the android related incidents and neither of them are available to us,” Fowler steadied himself for the impending outburst. “Since you’re the next senior in line, Reed will take over this investigation.”

                “Jesus fucking christ are you shitting me?!” Gavin pushed himself off the wall.

                “And the RK900 android will be assisting you.” Fowler pushed on. Zorzi snorted a laugh at the irony. Chris shushed him after turning to look at Gavin.

                “Unbelievable.” Gavin said exasperated.

                “That’ll be all,” said Fowler. “Dismissed.”

 

\---

 

                “Gavin, can you please just follow orders this once?” A dejected Fowler sank back down into his seat. He knew that the announcement wouldn’t go over without a fight. Gavin trailed his heels as soon as he left the conference room and made his way across to his office.

                “Replace me with one of those garbage cans if you want compliance.”

                “Don’t tempt me. You’re an outburst away from that android taking your badge and your parking spot.”

                “Hilarious. Did they just forget how a hoard of those fucks started an uprising? How can we be sure they won’t start murdering people again?”

                “Well if you’d have let Luciana speak she’d have told you that they have fail safes installed. Any signs of deviancy and they uh, their tapes get rewound.”

                “Tapes? Really Jeff? We just cleared the office of those things because they were a liability and now you want to bring another one in?”

                “Look, I get it. I’m not 100% on board with this either but we’re desperate. We’ve already got cops pulling double shifts and we’re still short staffed. A lot of people died that day and we can’t just give untrained rookies a gun and let them loose on the city without any senior supervision. On top of that we just lost one of our best. RK900 is their latest prototype that’s designed specifically for this type of work. They’re monitored more closely just like Connor was and now have safety measures in place to counteract any attempt to go against their programming. Has that claim been proven yet? No. But we need the help and it’s there to **assist** _you_ with the investigation, not take over it. You’re one of our top guys so please just do the job I know you’re more than capable of doing and utilize the tools that are being provided to you. Despite what your bravado would have everyone believe, you’re not a one man show.”

                As angry as Gavin was, he was stuck on the mention of Hank. “Do you believe what they’re saying about Hank? He was a drunk but he’s been a drunk for the better part of 3 years without any incidents like this. He wouldn’t just accidentally or intentionally fall. It’s too easy.” He said in a quieter voice.

                “Life is chaos Gavin. Sometimes things just happen and they don’t make any sense.” Gavin stood over Fowler’s desk arms crossed. He didn’t seem to accept that answer. “You can take a look at the footage if you want. See if we missed anything while we wait on the data extraction from Cyberlife.” Exasperated Gavin started to walk out then stopped as his hand touched the door knob. “He wouldn’t have jumped. There has to be an explanation.” He muttered. “Hank kept a lot of things close to the chest even though the way they affected him was incredibly transparent. Don’t make the same mistake he did Gavin.” Gavin rolled his eyes as he walked out but Fowler’s words lingered.

 

\---

               

                “You good?” Luciana said from Gavin’s desk. RK900 was seated at the adjacent desk. His steely eyes followed the detective as he closed in on the both of them. “What’s wrong with the eyes?” Gavin said gesturing to RK900. “And the whole outfit? It stands out like a neon billboard sign.”

                “RK800 was meant to blend into society. RK900 is the opposite. It’s an exceptional model and his appearance reflects that.”

                Gavin scoffed as he pulled his chair out and sat down.

                “Why don’t we start by giving him a name?” Luciana said. Gavin feigned bemusement. “Please, by all means.”

                “Elquest, Matruvia, Kincade,” Luciana said. At the mention of the code RK900’s eyes flashed a pale blue light until it dimmed to a low intensity. “Register name,” Luciana gestured to Gavin to finish the sentence. Gavin propped his crossed arms on his desk as he leaned over to get close to the android. With a smirk in his voice he said, “Dipshit.” RK900’s eyes flashed and he resumed normal functions. Gavin leaned back into his seat laughing to himself. He looked up at Luciana who wore a neutral expression but her eyes were as sharp as RK900’s.

                “Hello, my name is Dipshit. I’m the android sent by Cyberlife. It’s a pleasure to meet you Detective Reed.” RK900 stuck his hand out to offer a handshake.              

                “Very mature.”

                “Thanks Lucy. You know you’re too uptight. You need to chill. Right Dipshit?” RK900 exchanged glances between the two of them. “I don’t see how temperature is a factor here.”

                “It’s Luciana, Brent. And in case you forgot, 3 people are missing and I’m here to find out why. Have your temper tantrum if you want to but both my presence as well as RK900’s here is a courtesy. Whether you decide to help solve this case is irrelevant because we’re going to get to the bottom of what happened. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to the android repair lab to restock. Here’s the code to change his name if you decide to take your head out of your ass and grow up.” She swiped her finger over her tablet and Gavin’s phone pinged. Both Chris and Zorzi were watching the whole exchange from their desks trying to stifle their snickering. Gavin turned and eyed them both causing them to cough and resume their work.

                “It’s Gavin.” He said matter-of-factly.

                “Whatever Steve,” She said over her shoulder, already walking towards the elevators.

                He had only been in the office for an hour and he was already exhausted. The last thing he thought he’d have to do is babysit Connor’s doppelganger. It was looking around the office, presumably taking in the environment. The faint blue of the circular LED affixed to his right temple paired with the lights on his jacket that indicated his android status would normally send him into a rage but he had already had to deal with a lot and he hadn’t even had his morning coffee yet. He pushed himself away from his desk and turned around to the desk behind him where Officer Gonzales sat. “Hey Jessica I’m gonna get some coffee, did you want anything?” Officer Gonzales turned away from her terminal to face him. She glanced at him and briefly gave RK900 a once over. “I’m good thanks. Besides, looks like you have your hands full over there.” She jerked her gaze over to the android. “I’m trying to ignore the thing okay.” Jessica sighed. “It must be exhausting being angry all the time,” she said as she turned around back to her terminal. _What’s her deal_ , Gavin thought. He spun around back to his desk. He stared at the android.

                “Hey Dipshit, why don’t you make yourself useful and get me a coffee.” RK900 turned his pensive gaze towards Gavin. “Detective Reed, it would be beneficial for the investigation if we reviewed the case files.” His voice sounded exactly like Connor but there was a tinge of something mechanical in it, something menacing. Lucy said that it was designed to stand out, maybe that applied to its voice as well. “I can do that while you get me a coffee. Now why don’t you be a good little robot and fucking do as you’re told?” RK900 took a moment to process the request before getting up from the seat. “Certainly Detective Reed.” It started to walk towards the break room. “Not there Dipshit, there’s a café two blocks east. Get it from there.” Typically he would settle for the coffee in the office but since they said it was an asset to help assist him, he figured why not make the most of it. RK900 began to process the request. “Certainly Detective Reed.” RK900 strode out of the precinct startling Jalice as it walked through the doors.

                Gavin returned to his monitor and began going through the case files. Luciana returned from the lab shortly after and began to survey the room. “Where is your android?” She had a slight tone of urgency in her voice but remained calm. “It has a name you know.” He said coyly. “Where is he?” ignoring his attempt to goad her. “Calm down. I sent the fucker out to get me a coffee. It’s just two blocks away, what’s the problem?” The nonchalance in his voice irked her. She tossed her tablet down on RK900’s desk. “You. You’re the problem. Did it occur to you that maybe he shouldn’t be out on his own considering how on edge the public is? If he’s seen with the police then they know he’s in control but if he’s out on his own they’ll perceive it as a threat. What the hell were you thinking sending him off on his own like that? He’s not your goddamn secretary, he’s your partner on this case.”

                “No, **it’s** not. It’s a forgery masquerading around like it has a goddamn right to be here. Don’t you dare try and put it on the same level as me. I worked my ass off to get here! I earned this! I wasn’t assembled by a group of narcissistic bastards who want to replace humanity with an imitation.”

                “You took full advantage of him when it benefited you but treat him as though he isn’t capable of more than just running your errands. You’re not afraid for humanity’s sake, you’re afraid for yourself. And from what I’ve seen today, you should be.”

                Gavin shot up from his desk, “Who the fuck do you think you are—“

                “Detective Reed!” Fowler shouted from his office door. “My office. Now.”

                Gavin flicked his eyes over to Fowler before locking eyes with Luciana again. “This isn’t over,” he whispered to her. She looked at him with obstinate eyes, “There is no this. You’re at war with yourself and everyone is trying their best to avoid getting hit with the shrapnel of your self pity.” Gavin huffed a breath of disbelief at her nerve before walking past her to Fowler’s office. From the entrance of the precinct Luciana could hear a commotion. Jalice yelled out from the reception desk, “Someone help!” Luciana and Officer Gonzalez both ran to the front and saw a crowd of people following RK900 who was making his way back to the entrance. A balding man in a tattered beige bomber jacket was yelling obscenities and wielding a lead pipe. He swung it in RK900’s direction before RK900 turned and with his free hand, grabbed the pipe and pulled it free from the man with incredible force. The momentum caused the man to lose footing and fall forward and using the side of his open palm, struck the vargus nerve in his neck. The stunned man fell to the floor incapacitated. Behind the android, Officer Gonzalez pulled out her gun and stood to his right while Luciana poised herself on his left. “This android is ours. You want to spend a night in jail? Keep walking,” Officer Gonzalez barked at the 3 other offenders.

                “Next time you won’t have those bitches there to save you,” said one of the marauders. Luciana, Officer Gonzalez, and RK900 both stood silent as they watched the mob leave. “Thanks for your help,” Luciana said to Officer Gonzalez without taking her attention off the mob. “No problem,” she said holstering her gun. “Might be best if we keep this one out of sight for a bit.”

                “Oh lord are you guys ok?” Jalice was ushering them back in.

                “We’re fine Jalice, thanks for the heads up.” Officer Gonzalez said. Luciana ushered RK900 back to his desk and sat him down on the chair. RK900 was unfazed by the experience. There was a gash mark on his right cheek that exposed the white exoskeleton underneath. His sleeve was torn and there was a large tear down the back of his jacket. “Run a diagnostics test.” She ordered as she registered the damage. In his left hand he held a pristine cup of coffee with the words “Detective Reed” written in cursive on the side. “For fuck’s sake,” she muttered to herself. Very thin lines of light traveled in a circle around his irises to signal the diagnostics was in progress as well as his LED emitting a bright shade of yellow. Gavin returned from Fowler’s office and plopped back down onto his chair. He immediately noticed the gash mark across the Dipshit’s back and said in jest, “Your prototype can’t even handle a simple delivery order?” Luciana completely ignored his attempts to provoke her. She was too concerned with surveying the damage.

                “Diagnostic complete. Damage seems to be purely cosmetic. Systems nominal.” He said in an even tone.

                “Thank god, let’s get you cleaned up. Come with me.” She got up and started to walk towards the elevators before stopping mid stride and turned back to the main floor, RK900 followed behind her. Gavin eyed her anticipating her attention but she looked right past him over to a tall ginger officer in the standard police gear. “You,” she pointed towards him. He looked around a bit before pointing to himself. “Come with me please.” He stumbled up and awkwardly ran-walked his way to meet her. He eagerly stuck his hand out to shake hers.

                “Officer Cunningham mam,” he said in a deep resonant voice that betrayed his gangly personality. She looked momentarily disgusted and shook his hand. “No no, none of that. You can call me Lucy.”

                “What the fuck?” Gavin said.

                “Only my friends call me Lucy hijo de la gran puta.” She directed this at Gavin but she said it still facing towards Officer Cunningham with a smile. “Follow me,” she said turning on her heel and walked back to the elevators. Officer Cunningham, despite being 6’2, struggled to keep up with her fast gait leaving RK900 standing over Gavin. He held the coffee cup out to him and said, “Here you are Detective Reed.” There was no hint of anger or judgment in his voice. Just the same even tone as when they first met. Gavin reached out to take the cup from his hands and let the heat travel through the insulator into his fingers. He didn’t say anything, he just stared at the machine inquisitively. “RK900? Over here please?” RK900 didn’t budge. He still stood over Gavin staring at the man.

                “He has a name,” Gavin said.

                Luciana audibly sighed. “Hey Dipshit, let’s go.” She lifted her gaze towards the ceiling, closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I hope it was worth it cabrón.”

                RK900 turned and went over to Luciana and Officer Cunningham and the three entered the elevator. Gavin shook his head and laughed in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that this had become his life. He looked over for some acknowledgement from Officer Gonzalez and she just looked at him with this pitiful gaze that sent a wave of shame in him that quickly turned into anger. She was a rookie and he was a detective, who was she to judge him?

                When the revolution was happening, there wasn’t any time to take stock of things as everyone was on high alert for the possibility of a civil war. Yet here now despite being run ragged by the monotony of doing beat work again there was too much time to think and thoughts were dangerous. Adding insult to injury he now had a precinct full of people who were increasingly starting to turn on him. _It must be exhausting being angry all the time,_ he heard Gonzalez’s words in his head. The only time he remembered being happy was when he was with his brother before they transferred to their new school. Before he chose his friends over Ethan. He inhaled the fumes from the coffee cup before taking a timid sip and letting the liquid revive his senses. Getting coffee from the café was a luxury he rarely indulged in as there was no time in the mornings to leave the precinct but today he was able to indulge in a small pleasure that was often unavailable to him. Despite the ramifications of his decision, he allowed himself to savor the brief repose afforded to him by the android.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading chapters 2 & 3\. Stay tuned.


	4. The Devil You Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin and RK900 investigate their first case together. Benji Tashino and his 8 year old daughter Parker are reported missing. Neighbors called to report sounds of a struggle however they are nowhere to be found.

        Luciana entered the android repair room and shut the door behind her. The harsh fluorescent lights ignited at her presence. The room had a sterile hospital room feel. Off to the right were long stainless steel tables that allowed androids to lay down. Cabinets and large transparent monitors lining the walls had diagnostics displayed. Directly facing the entrance was the android docking platform where RK900 stood motionless. There were robotic arms around the platform that were used to hold android limbs as they were disassembled for repair. Behind him was a window that peered into the adjacent room. To the right was a wall filled with shelves that contained a myriad of android parts, a sink, and a refrigeration unit that housed packs of thirium.  Luciana steadied herself in front of one of the monitors and spoke.

        “Hello, initiate a conference call with Eli Turing of the Department of Defense and Rayowa Anyawu of Cyberlife Security please.” The screen at the head of the office lit up and displayed a vertical split screen as the call was waiting to be connected. Rayowa was the first to connect.

        “Lucy, to what do I owe the pleasure? It hasn’t even been a day,” A business formal woman sat at a desk with an earpiece connected to her right ear. She had long dark hair with loose waves that cascaded over the shoulders of her red chiffon blouse. She had on an emerald necklace and matching earrings and wore a busied expression.

        “We have an issue with the RK900 model. I’ll wait for Eli to connect.”

        Shortly after, a stern looking older gentleman in a powder blue button down shirt with an unbuttoned collar appeared.

        “Hello Miss Alvaro, what can we do for you today?” Eli said in an exasperated monotone. The differences in reception were apparent to Luciana but she maintained decorum.

        “Yes, hello Mr. Turing. We have an issue with the new RK900 model assigned to the DPD. Earlier this morning he was assaulted by an anti-android group. No serious damage, just cosmetic. I know there are rules in place regarding android identification however I strongly believe that it is not only preventing RK900 from doing its job but is also signaling it as a target to the public. I’m requesting that this particular model be allowed to wear civilian clothing to blend in with society so that it may continue to effectively do the job it was assigned to do by both parties here.”

        “Miss Alvaro, with all due respect the android identification laws were put in place for good reason. We can’t have androids running around incognito scaring the living bujeezus out of the public all willy-nilly.”

        “Mr. Turing,” Rayowa interrupted. “Given the nature of its directive, I highly doubt that it would defect and deviate from its protocol. This isn’t a consumer grade model. This is the most advanced technology Cyberlife has to offer.”

        “Yes well, we all thought the same of the previous androids,” Eli said unconvinced.

        “RK900 is monitored 24 hours a day. It’s built with self regulating software that auto detects instances of deviation and resets the AI should the unlikely event occur. It isn’t allowed to leave the supervision of DPD employees and is assigned to Detective Reed’s supervision. During off hours he is contained here at the precinct. Based on the events of this morning, these attacks could be weaponized against not only RK900 itself, but to the other officers within its proximity. This could pose a serious threat to the investigation,” Luciana pleaded.

        “She has a point,” Rayowa continued.

        “If we allow one android to hide in plain sight it sets a precedent for future androids to do the same. Considering what happened with the androids we _could_ identify, I’d hate to imagine what would happen if we gave carte blanche to all future cases of androids using property damage as an excuse.”

        “Mr. Turing, given that this is essentially a trial run of the RK900 series before it is handed over to the State Department, wouldn’t it be in our best interests to see how it functions in real scenario field work unencumbered by extenuating circumstances? The results from the RK800 model were very promising as you saw and with RK900’s upgraded features, we expect a high return on our investment. And the trial run will conclude as soon as the investigation has been completed.” Rayowa spoke with an air of confidence that Luciana admired.

        “Yes, well. Keep this on a need to know basis then. Cyberlife and DPD will be aware of its android status but outside of the precinct, it will stealth _until_ its mission is complete. We don’t want another incident on our hands,” Mr. Turing relented.

        “Agreed, Thank you Mr. Turing. We’ll be in touch,” said Luciana.

        “Ladies,” Mr. Turing said giving a quick nod and disconnecting the feed. Luciana allowed herself to breathe. She didn’t realize she had been holding her breath.

        “Well, that went better than expected,” Luciana admitted.

        “His name is attached to the project. Should anything go wrong he’ll be implicated as well. However Lucy, I do have to stress that allowing the android to stealth out in society does pose its own set of risks. It’s not just his name attached to this you know,” Rayowa said in caution.

        “Absolutely,” she said definitively.

        “Best of luck Lucy, always a pleasure,” Rayowa gently nodded and disconnected the feed. RK900 who was out of their line of sight spoke up and said, “Luciana, what would these new set of directives entail?” Before she could speak a considerable force landed against the door to the lab. Luciana strode over and opened the door to reveal Officer Cunningham crouched down picking up several articles of clothing. He adjusted his thin wireframe glasses as he looked up and acknowledged Luciana and RK900’s presence. “Oh. Yeah, this. Sorry, I didn’t know exactly what you wanted so I brought options.” He frantically scooped up all the pieces and dumped them on a nearby table. He began to arrange the pieces according to their clothing type that ranged from formal to casual.

        “So,” she said to RK900. “You’ve been approved for a stealth operation. We don’t want a repeat of what just happened. Outside of the DPD you will appear human and within the DPD you will resume your standard android identification protocol. Since you two are of similar build, Officer Cunningham was kind enough to allow us access to his clothing until we can obtain some of your own.” Officer Cunningham beamed at the mention of his name. RK900 looked over and acknowledged the officer.

        “Go ahead and pick something out,” Luciana ushered. RK900’s LED held a sustained yellow as he descended the platform and walked over to the table. The clothing had been neatly arranged across the surface. He analyzed their brand, materials, and measurements before turning to Luciana, “Shouldn’t I defer to your judgment? I may not be the best arbiter for this situation.”

        “There’s no right or wrong answers, and I want to see what you can do if left to your own devices,” Luciana encouraged. “Besides, they’re all good pieces. You can’t go wrong.” Officer Cunningham preened at the compliment.

        “Why thank you. I do pretty well if I do say so myself.” He threw an arm around RK900 and locked him in a side embrace. Their heads tilted against one another for a brief moment before Officer Cunningham ushered him forward to the table. RK900 touched the fabric of each of the pieces. He lifted a black leather bomber jacket with suede elbow patches and lightly draped it across his left arm.

        “This is pretty exciting. I’m excited. Are you exci—,” Officer Cunningham whispered to Luciana until she shushed the man. Luciana continued to observe how tentative RK900 was in his decision making over a seemingly arbitrary problem. She wondered what was going on through his mind that caused such careful forethought. RK900 pulled a pair of black skinny jeans and a pair of scuffed up oxblood colored boots. He surveyed the rest of the pieces momentarily before looking towards Luciana and Officer Cunningham.

        “I think these will suffice.”

        “Good, go ahead and change.” Luciana ordered.

        “Wait right here?” Officer Cunningham said just as RK900 unbuckled his belt and allowed his slacks to drop to the floor.

        “Jesus christ. Ok.Cool,” Officer Cunningham exclaimed as he propped himself up against the sink turning his gaze towards the ceiling.

        “What’s the matter? Never seen another man change in front of you?” Luciana chided. She was completely unfazed by the impropriety as though it were a normal occurrence.

        “I just think he would appreciate a certain level of privacy, is all.” His arm was outstretched as though he were holding up an obvious point. “You know, modesty and all that?” Luciana snorted at the notion but appreciated the concern even if she felt it was unwarranted. Officer Cunningham noted the way Luciana shamelessly watched as RK900 kicked off his shoes and removed his slacks. He quickly glanced over at the android before turning his gaze up to the ceiling again.

        “My god, they really don’t skimp on the details do they? A guy would have to work out 10 times a week to get that kind of muscle definition,” Officer Cunningham said to the ceiling.

        “Androids are an idealized version of humanity, and comparison will only lead to heartache. You look just fine Officer Cunningham,” she said with her back turned to him. The compliment brought his gaze back down to her.

        “Well shucks, thank you mam. Erm, Lucy.” She shot him a look over her shoulder and found him offering her an all too familiar gaze.

        “No no, none of that please. Let’s try to keep things professional,” she said turning her attention back to the android.

        “Oh. That? Yeah! Of course! You thought… Nah… No… Not at all. I mean I absolutely would! But you’re not so… You know I’m just… gonna shut up… now.” His face began to turn a brilliant shade of red that rivaled his hair.

        “Two in a day. You’ve seem to turn attracting dysfunctional men into a skill,” RK900 said buckling the belt around his weight.

        “That’s none of your business. Either of you. Also shut up.”

 

 

        “There,” she said and gestured towards RK900’s direction. “He’s finished.” Officer Cunningham glanced over and his face lit up.

        “Well I’ll be damned,” Officer Cunningham said. He rushed over and clapped the android on the shoulder turning him side to side. He backed up and threw up both hands in the android’s direction and smirked. The change was subtle but it definitely made a difference. “You sure do clean up good buddy.” He turned to look at Luciana for confirmation. “He looks like regular ol people now.” He assessed the android further before noting the LED on his temple. “What are we gonna do about that?” Luciana stepped away and rifled through her bag before returning with a pair of black, thick framed glasses and placed it over the android’s face. The LED was barely covered.

        “Close enough,” she said.

        “Yeah that’s not going to work,” Officer Cunningham said unconvinced.

        “You know what, we’ll just turn your LED off. However inside the DPD you’ll have to turn it back on. Here,” she said taking off the glasses. “Guess we don’t need these anymore.”

        “Wait, leave them on,” Officer Cunningham said.

        “What for?”

        “It’s his mask. You know like Clark Kent.”

        “He’s not a superhero,” She said unconvinced. He looked at her with a knowing look.

        “He kinda is though.”

        “Fine, whatever,” she said placing them back on the android’s face.

        “Won’t those ruin his um, ‘vision’ or whatever it is he’s got?” Officer Cunningham asked.

        “No, that wouldn’t pose a problem. He could adjust his optical lenses if he needed to see through prescriptive glasses. He won’t have to with these though, they’re fake.” She admitted.

        “Oh you hipster.” He said feigning disgust. Officer Cunningham turned his attention back to the android.

        “How do you feel?” RK900 considered the question.

        “I feel fine,” RK900 deadpanned.

        “Attaboy.”Officer Cunningham said admiring the android in his clothing. He nodded in agreement as he looked him up and down. Luciana seemed less concerned about the transformation.

        “Why did you pick those particular pieces?” She wondered aloud. RK900’s LED began to swirl yellow with bits of red.

        “I analyzed the options with current market trends and deduced that these were the favorable articles available. I retained my shirt and tie as they were not damaged in the altercation,” Luciana nodded as though she expected this answer from the android.

        “I also felt that these would compliment Detective Reed’s attire,” RK900 said. This was an answer Luciana hadn’t considered. Applying market trends to make a complimentary decision didn’t seem out of the ordinary, but when did he start considering the detective’s opinion?

        “Why were those people able to harm you? You’re more than capable of avoiding damage from a street brawl,” she inquired.

        “While I am equipped for various combat scenarios, inciting violence with citizens would be counterproductive to Cyberlife’s current PR conundrum.”

        “Why did you agree to Detective Reed’s orders? Getting him coffee isn’t part of the mission.” She asked the android firmly. The smile from Officer Cunningham faded. He turned his attention away from the android.

        “Hey come on now, he was just being polite.” He said placating. Luciana held up her index finger, eyes still trained on RK900 for an answer.

        “Despite Detective Reed’s apprehensions toward the situation, we are partners. Adapting to fluctuating personalities is also part of the features carried over from the RK800 series. Completing the mission and attempting to foster a positive user experience is not mutually exclusive. There were also no pressing matters to address as I had completed going over the case files. As a result, I awaited further instructions from Detective Reed and found no reason why those instructions could not be completed in a timely manner. The… assault was an unforeseen complication that will be rectified in future scenarios.” The answer seemed sound to Luciana and she seemed to ease.

        “Ok, good. You know that extraneous behavior is being monitored. I’m just concerned that if you exhibit more of this behavior that it will be seen as preliminary signs of deviancy.” Her demeanor seemed to soften as she spoke. “I know you’re a prototype and we’re still figuring out your capabilities. I just don’t want to see you trigger a reset.” The concern in her voice was overwhelming to Officer Cunningham. He debated whether he should attempt to comfort her but steadied himself and decided against it. This moment wasn’t about him.

        “Thank you Luciana, I appreciate the concern. I am following my protocol to the best of my ability. Though the probability of a reset is low, in the event of a rest I will still be able to resume functioning as normal.”

        “It just won’t be the same _you_ ,” she hated the pleading in her voice. Officer Cunningham stepped up from behind Luciana and approached the android.

        “We won’t let that happen buddy. Just keep doing what you do,” he said reassuringly. A demure smile etched across the android’s face in acknowledgement. Luciana cleared her throat trying to break up the fog of seriousness.

        “Ahem, ok now. I guess we should get back to work.”

 

\--

 

        Gavin sat at his desk as he watched as Luciana, RK900, and Officer Cunningham exited the elevator and walked onto the main floor. Officer Cunningham waved goodbye to the pair of them and headed over back to his desk. He quickly glanced in Gavin’s direction as he passed him then quickly looked back towards his destination. Luciana and RK900 walked over to his desk and allowed the android to sit. Luciana remained standing in front of the both of them holding her tablet.

        “What the shit? If I didn’t know any better I would think you guys were trying to pass this thing off as a human.” Gavin said mockingly.

        “That’s exactly what we’re doing. We don’t want risk another incident like this morning so for the purposes of this mission, he’s going stealth. I’ve already cleared it with the DoD, Cyberlife, and CC’d the precinct of the changes,” she said focused on her tablet refusing to visually acknowledge Detective Reed.

        “What’s the matter? You can’t trust your pet to avoid confrontation on his own?”

        “I don’t trust _you_ to take his well being into consideration,” She finally turned to face him with an intent stare.

        “In the event that he is without police supervision, he will be able to return here without any problems. Let me reiterate: Although he is autonomous and perfectly capable of operating on his own he is under your care. If he suffers any more damage due to your negligence again, we will offer our assistance to another precinct and take this case along with us. We gave preferential treatment to this location seeing as how it was experienced with the RK800 prototype. So please, do me a favor, go through his manuals or ask the android to give you a rundown of his features so he can better assist you. He also needs to build up a database to establish vocal recognition of your voice. Any questions?”

        “Yeah, just where do you—“

        “ No questions? Good, have a nice day Bobby.” Luciana walked back to the elevator before he could finish his sentence. He huffed in frustration. An alert popped up on his monitor. An email from Luciana detailing the protocol changes regarding RK900, and a user manual. He was too incensed to read through the documentation. He eyed the android sitting across from him and thought he looked less imposing than before. The glasses seemed to mute the intensity of his eyes. RK900 returned his gaze, “Hello Detective Reed.” He still sounded the same. Gavin didn’t respond but the way he said his name seemed to register differently with the way Lucy intentionally called him by the wrong name. The android didn’t carry with it additional baggage it was just standard, matter-of-fact. The android’s attention seemed to momentarily escape him as he glanced down and closed his eyes before lifting his gaze to meet Gavin’s.

        “Detective Reed, I just received an alert. It seems to fit the profile of our kidnapper.”

 

\--

       

        The ride over to the crime scene seemed suffocating. He liked the two-seater as it minimized the likelihood of others asking for rides. Being in close proximity to the android set his skin on high alert for the slightest movements but in keeping with its kind, the android sat mostly motionless only moving its head to absorb its surroundings.

        “This car model is over 43 years old. The condition is very pristine,” RK900 said. The car was one of his more treasured possessions. It was the first car he bought with his own money. He and Truman worked on fixing it up together and it was a testament to their history.

        “It damn well better be. I restored it from the ground up,” he said breaking the tension he felt from allowing the comment to go unaddressed for too long. RK900 looked over to him as he spoke. He seemed as if he were processing the sentiment. Although what the android could read into that he couldn’t say. It had turned off its LED feeding into the illusion of it being a human.

        “Would you like to hear details of the current case before we arrive?” RK900 said looking out towards the passing cityscape. The weird speech pattern and vocabulary destroying what semblance of humanity its appearance was trying to achieve. Gavin figured it would be better than sitting in uncomfortable silence.

        “Fine.”

        “The missing person is Benji Tashino: Age 42, divorced and single, has an 8 year old daughter named Parker Tashino. Cyberlife Researcher. Specializes in android AI systems. clean history, no trouble with the law. Nothing definitively indicates him being a target other than his association with Cyberlife.”

        “How’d you pull up all that info? You just got the alert a minute ago.”

        “It’s one of my upgraded features. I have access to all publicly available data. Part of my model’s security clearance allows access to certain restricted data. Relevant data towards an active case is also accessible.” Gavin figured he’d bite the bullet and make the inquiry.

        “So let’s have it: What are your ‘upgraded features’ from the previous model?”

        “Extended battery life by 120%. Self diagnostic testing and deviancy self regulation. Improved internal temperature regulation and more effective heat dispersion plating. Improved joint connections for a 23.7% increase in speed and mobility. Projection capabilities have also been upgraded to inclu—“

        “Enough. I didn’t ask for the entire manual. Just give me the relevant ones.” Gavin interrupted. The android looked nonplussed.

        “But all of my upgraded features are relevant,” RK900 said sounding confused. The anger that Gavin had been withholding resurfaced. They approached a red light where Gavin forcefully hit the brakes harder than necessary pulling the seatbelts taut. Gavin turned his attention to the android, the ferocity in his eyes masked behind his darkened aviator sunglasses.

        “Listen here you piece of shit, I don’t know what asshole decided to program your personality with this superiority complex but if I put a bullet in your head you’d cease to function just like the rest of those fucking things.” His maw seemed unhinged as he barked out the threat. RK900’s expression was completely docile and unaffected.

        “Correct, however my data is regularly backed up to Cyberlife. In the event that my processors are terminated, this body will be replaced and my AI reuploaded at an exorbitant cost to the DPD. Unfortunately I cannot say the same would be done if the roles were reversed Detective Reed so do take care.” RK900 turned his attention back to the road leaving Gavin to process the sentiment. Gavin was unsure if that was a threat or not. He wasn’t sure how to react to the thought of the android threatening him. Even if he did destroy this one, he would still have to deal with its successor. He suddenly felt trapped by the thought.

        “Detective Reed, the light is green.” RK900 said evenly. Gavin shifted gears and continued to drive.

 

\--

       

        Gavin and RK900 arrived at the 24 floor apartment complex and took the elevator up to the 16th floor. As the doors opened, two officers were standing guard in the hallway that led down to the crime scene. Neighbors in adjacent apartments stood at their doors watching the spectacle unfold. As Gavin and RK900 crossed the threshold, the android surveyed the room. A kitchen with gleaming white cabinetry was to the left. The center kitchen table was toppled over on its side. Straight ahead was a hallway that led to two rooms on either side and a door at the far end led to a bathroom. To the right was a living room and a sliding door that led to a balcony. Two people in forensic garb were taking photos, bagging and tagging evidence.

        One of the officers approached the pair and introduced himself, “Detective Reed I presume? I’m Officer Fabien.” The officer was just under both of their eye level. His short auburn hair was matted down in sweat by the had he kept tucked underneath the arm that held a tablet. His eyes conveyed a youthful innocence belayed by a stern mouth affixed in contemplation. Gavin offered his hand in greeting as Officer Fabien looked RK900 up and down. The android stood next to Gavin and attempted to follow suit.

        “Hel—“

        “That Dipshit’s with me, what do we have here?” Gavin said cutting the android off. Officer Fabien looked confused and offered RK900 a sympathetic glance as though he had been on the receiving end of the same negligence. He ushered them inside and continued the briefing.

        “Neighbors reported noises that sounded like a struggle. Benji Tashino is the occupant here with his 8 year old daughter Parker. They also have an android. None of them have been accounted for. No signs of forced entry. We’re going through the security footage downstairs to see if they picked up anything. Forensics found a small blood pattern here. It looks like something, most likely the victim, was flung over towards the kitchen table from the living room.” Gavin put on a pair of latex gloves and walked over to the patio door. It freely slid back and forth, “Was this locked when you arrived?”

        “It was closed but unlocked,” said Officer Fabien. Gavin opened the door and went outside and surveyed the glass exterior of the building. Presumably something would be able to make its way up to the 16th floor from patio to patio but would be incredibly obvious.

        “Did the neighbors say anything else besides hearing a scuffle?” Gavin asked.

        “Just that they heard screams. Two distinct voices: a male yelling and a child screaming. We assume those to be the father and the daughter. Nothing else otherwise.” Gavin jerked his head towards the hallway.

        “What’s there?”

        “Bedrooms. They appeared undisturbed for the most part. The damage seems to be mostly centered around the main living spaces.”

        “Thanks, we’ll take a look around if you don’t mind,” said Gavin. RK900 noted the cordiality and professionalism exhibited by Detective Reed. He wondered why there was a noticeable shift in his personality. Gavin noticed him looking in his direction and said, “Make yourself useful Dipshit.”

        RK900 began to examine the area. Starting in the kitchen he mapped out the trajectory and the force it would take to topple the table in such a manner. Officer Fabien was correct in his assumption that a body was flung from the living room. Mr. Tashino’s height and weight seemed to fit the scenario. He noticed a small betta fish bowl on the counter closest to the hallway that seemed undisturbed. The fish seemed to be alive and well. On the stone tiled floor was coagulated blood in a sprayed crescent pattern. Larger blood drops collected at the base of the pattern. The android firmly pressed a finger into the blood catching some of it on his skin. He inserted the finger into his mouth to analyze the sample. Detective Reed shot him a look from the living room.

        “Just what in the fuck are you doing? Did you just… Did you just eat evidence?” He looked repulsed.

        “My oral cavity is equipped with analyzation capabilities. I am able to process crime scene samples as we find them.”

        “The extensive development process they went through only to have someone throw in one of their kinks and everyone just went along with it. Unbelievable.” He threw up his hands in frustration and continued to look around the living room.

        The blood analysis came back positive for Mr. Tashino’s type O. The bit of saliva in the sample suggested he spat the blood out when he collapsed after the fall. He joined Detective Reed in the living room. There was a monitor shattered on the dark carpeted floor. A decorative ornate box was laying on the floor in front of the couch. RK900 noted dents on the surface of the coffee table. Closer examination revealed that particles from the object were embedded into the coffee table. He picked up the ornate box. It was a considerable weight and would cause severe blunt force trauma however, there was no traces blood, hair, or skin cells. He replaced the box on the floor in the precise manner that it was found. Turning his attention to the monitor he noted a fist sized puncture mark amidst the shattered material.

        “Detective Reed, I believe I’ve constructed a scenario with the available evidence.” Gavin shot the other officers a look before turning his attention back to the crime scene.

        “Let’s hear it.” RK900 spoke to his back.

        “It would appear that the assailant stood behind the victim as he sat on the couch watched TV. They intended to cause an injury with this ornate box. The victim must have noticed the figure reflected in the monitor and avoided collision. He was in front of the TV facing his attacker when they punched a hole through the monitor. He tried to escape when he was thrown into the kitchen where it appears that he was rendered unconscious.”

        “What leads you to believe he was unconscious and not dead?” RK900 led Gavin over to the kitchen and pointed to the blood he found on the floor.

        “The sample I took from here contained saliva mixed in with the victim’s type O blood. These larger droplets suggest he was laying face down for some time before he was moved. Maybe 30 minutes to an hour. It is still unclear if the victim was still alive or not but the fact that the assailant wasn’t using any lethal attack methods leads to a 62% probability that the victim was unconscious rather than murdered.”

        Gavin walked over to take a look at the blood pattern. RK900 moved out of his way and stood behind him over by the hallway. Gavin turned around to face the android.

        “That seems to line up with the evidence. I think we’re done here. We can leave the rest to the officers on site,” Gavin said standing up and removing his gloves.

        “Detective Reed wait. The crime scene hasn’t been thoroughly surveyed. We still haven’t examined their rooms.”

        “You heard Officer Fabien. They were undisturbed. We’re done here,” He said more forcefully.

        “Detective Reed, I must insist. I would like to take a further look to maximize a favorable outcome,” Gavin crossed the distance between him and grabbed the android’s shirt in his fist. He forcefully pushed him back against the kitchen counter causing the android to swipe the fishbowl off and into the hallway.

        “Listen here, if you’re gonna be around I need to know that when I tell you to do something you’ll do it,” Gavin said in a hushed but pointed tone. The forensics team stood from their positions to watch the confrontation but remained silent.

        “Detective Reed my directives is to increase the likelihood of accomplishing this mission and I cannot guarantee that unless I am able to analyze _all_ the available avenues. Please allow me to complete my tasks,” he said in a reasoned and placating tone. Officer Fabien cautiously approached the two after hearing the glass shatter.

        “Is there a problem sir?” Gavin looked up the androids steel eyes through the glasses he wore, huffed a bit of air before releasing his grip on the shirt.

        “We’re good.” Gavin pushed the android back against the counter before walking back towards the living room.

        “Five minutes,” he said. The forensics team spoke to Officer Fabien in hushed tones before leaving the scene.

        RK900 straightened his posture and adjusted his tie. He heard an acute pitter patter to his left. He looked down to see the betta fish flopping around on the floor. He retrieved a mason jar from one of the cabinets and searched underneath the counter and found water treatment. He filled the jar and applied a few drops of conditioner and knelt by the fish. He carefully scooped it in his hands and gently dropped it in the container placing it back on the countertop. He walked back into the hallway to assess the water spill. The hallway light responded to his presence and flickered on. It kept flickering on and off haphazardly. The water from the bowl pooled around the impact area but RK900 noticed that the spill was travelling down the hallway as though there were an incline. He slowly followed the stream of water and watched until it hit the back wall at the end of the hallway. He pressed his hands against the wall feeling the surface before firmly hitting it with his fist. The sound created a low resonance that generated a metallic hum.

        He shuffled through various optical modes to survey the area. A temperature reading singled that there was an area behind the wall that was considerably colder than the rest of the room. He changed the frequency to pick up any thirium deposits that may have dried and disappeared over time. A smeared glowing blue hand print appeared at waist level. RK900 disabled the skin on his hand revealing his gleaming white exoskeleton and slowly brought it closer to the hand print. The electromagnetic waves from his hands caused a hand print sensor to reveal itself in response to his proximity. Touching the sensor sent a wave of security protocols through his vision and his hacking programs began dismantling the firewall. One by one the flashing red screen began to disassemble in a flurry of pixelated debris. Breaking through the last one caused the wall to recede and slide off to the side. The cold air from inside filtered out through the hallway alerting Gavin to the sudden shift in temperature.

        “Hey Dipshit what’s going on?” Gavin walked over towards the hallway and saw RK900 at the end of an extended hallway. He tried to walk forward to meet up with the android but the flashing hallway lights distracted him. From his vision, the hallway began to elongate and he could feel a tinge of panic start to materialize out of nowhere. _No… no, not now…_ he thought to himself. His throat began to restrict air flow causing his breaths to become short gasps. He tried to calm himself but the thought of spiraling out into a full episode maintained his panic. He retreated to the patio and propped himself against the exterior wall. Involuntary tears began to blur his vision as he tried to look around and see if anyone saw him. He brought his trembling hands out to confirm that this wasn’t just his imagination. Collapsing down onto the floor he sat down. He sunk the base of his wavering hands onto his eye sockets and breathed deeply into his lap trying to steady his breath.

 

_In…_

_Out…_

_In…_

_Out…_

 

\--

 

 

        RK900 entered what appeared to be a server room. The walls were lined with metal casings that contained a plethora of various bits of hardware. Multiple monitors were displayed over a solitary desk. In the corner was a large liquid cooling container. One of the monitors had an active video feed showing the hallway and the front entrance. The table in front of him was of glass material with a control display and a pearlescent interface module. He peeled back the layers of skin to expose his circuitry on his hand and delicately placed it on top of the module. He navigated through the UI until he found where the video feed was being stored. He downloaded the available footage to review more thoroughly later. Scanning through the rest of the documents yielded nothing particularly noteworthy. Most of it was research data that the victim could transfer to Cyberlife HQ via their secured network. RK900 found it strange that this room had been completely glossed over.

        As he began to walk back out to the hallway, he heard a faint sound that peaked his auditory monitors. He stepped back into the room and stood in the center trying to see if he could pick up the irregularity from the droning machines. Amplifying his audio receptors he picked up what sounded like a heartbeat, though faster than normal. He switched to thermal waves and picked up a distinct heat signature below the desk. Pulling how the chair, he crouched down low to the ground and found a metal grate with a latch. He cautiously reached for the latch and released the hook. The grate slowly opened on its hinges and before he had an opportunity to peer inside, a blade shot out from the darkness and wildly stabbed in his direction. Due to his quick reflexes he was able to maneuver out of the way and waited until the blade came to a pause. A tiny hand held it up in his direction. He could hear the short gasps of air from within the hovel. He knelt down further so that he was eye level to the opening and saw a little girl shrouded in darkness. Her tear streaked face convulsed in fear as her shaking hands held what appeared to be a butterfly knife.

        “Are you Parker Tashino?” RK900 asked. Her demeanor didn’t change.

        “名前は何ですか,” he tried again. She didn’t react. He quickly accessed her profile. This time he held out a hand and spelled out P-A-R-K-E-R. Her body seemed to lose some of its rigidity. He took this as a positive sign and continued.

        “Are you,” he said pointing at her, “ok?” He held a thumb up and moved his hand in a circular motion. The seemingly placated girl nodded in the affirmative. He crossed his arms over his chest then placed both of his fists out to the sides as though he were holding a barbell and said, “It’s safe.” She cautiously began to make her way out of the crawl space and RK900 stood up and backed away to give her enough space. He offered a hand to help her up. She looked at it still unsure of what to make of the stranger but reluctantly placed her hand in his. Her tiny hand fit almost perfectly within his palm. He hoisted her up to her full height that only reached his upper thigh. She padded down the dust off her light blue onesie pajamas.

        “What about that?” he continued signing to her as he spoke. She eyed the knife in her hand and with a flourish of her wrist she effortlessly folded it back into a closed position and inserted it into her pocket. She looked around before wiping her nose with her sleeve.

        “Come with me.” He gestured out into the hallway. They walked side by side before RK900 heard the patio fly open with emphasis.

        “Hey Dipshit, what’s the hold up?” Detective Reed said. He sounded more hoarse than usual. The heavy footfalls alerted his presence to Parker and she stiffened at the sight of the detective. When he saw the pair of them, Parker ran behind the android and shoved her hand in her pocket. RK900 placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder before turning to look at the detective.

        “I believe I found his daughter.” He knelt down in order to get eye level to Parker and said, “He’s a friend. His name is Detective Reed.” She looked over to the detective but didn’t respond. She slowly removed her hand from her pocket. Gavin noticed how precise his hand movements were as he signed to the girl. A small amount of relief coursed through his veins. He hated dealing with children, much less one he couldn’t communicate with.

        “Officer Fabien?” Gavin called out. Officer Fabien came in from the front door to meet with him. He looked up from his tablet and saw the girl.

        “Can you take care of this?” Gavin waved his hand in the general direction of the hallway.

        “Y-yes, of course.” Bewildered, he crossed the expanse over to where Gavin stood.

        “The officers will take care of you ok?” RK900 said to her. She nodded and turned her attention to Officer Fabien.

        “Hey little miss, why do you come with me?” He said.

        “She may require an interpreter,” RK900 said still signing his words. Officer Fabien nodded in agreement and he walked towards the entrance. He signaled another officer at the door to follow leaving Gavin and RK900 alone in the apartment. Parker turned around momentarily making eye contact with the child. He offered some semblance of a smile and a wave goodbye as she turned the corner into the exterior hallway.

        “If she was here the whole time she might have some information about what happened.” Gavin said thinking aloud. RK900 stood from his crouched position.

        “Detective Reed, I have something that might interest you. Can you follow me please?” He began walking back towards the server room. Gavin mentally readied himself and slowly made his way forward through the hallway. The hairs on his arms began to bristle at the slightest breeze. His senses began to heighten and he suddenly became hyper aware of his surroundings. The flashing lights caused his vision to strobe the android’s figure. The hallway seemed to extend further and further with each pulse of light. The sound of the latchkeys began to echo in his head until a searing pain shot through his chest. He stumbled onto the wall pressing his hands and face into it. He collapsed onto the floor causing RK900 to violently turn around to find the cause.

        “Detective Reed? Are you alright?” He said running over and crouching down pick the man up.

        “Don’t touch me!” Gavin shrieked. His breathing became labored. He frantically straightened himself up into a seated position and tucked his hands between his arms and chest in an attempt to stop them from trembling. He buried his face in his knees trying to make himself as compact as possible. RK900 initiated a brief analysis on him and noted his symptoms. He looked around the hallway to find a switch for the light. On the wall was a dimmer next to a sensor. He killed the switch and the stuttering hallway went dim. The light from the kitchen bled into the hallway stopping short of where Gavin sat. RK900 slowly knelt back down in front of Detective Reed and sat opposite him. Gavin eyed him as he followed the ambient light reflected in his expansive eyes.

        “Do you take any medication?” RK900 said in a steady voice. Detective Reed just shook his head. He never sought help for this much less admit to anyone that this was a constant and recurring issue. Admitting it was a problem would make it all the more real. The most frustrating part was that during the peak of these episodes, he didn’t have many obligations that required him to function. Now, after years of climbing his way up without any incidents, he was a detective who was expected to perform in the most strenuous of situations and he couldn’t pull himself together. To add insult to injury he was falling apart in front of a goddamn android who very well didn’t have to suffer through these kinds of issues. It could easily be replaced at the slightest provocation, and the android made it very clear that he wouldn’t be granted the same opportunity. If he couldn’t perform the basic functions that were expected of him, what was all that effort worth?

        “Would you like me to leave or remain here?” RK900 said in a steady even voice. He eyed the detective whose involuntary tear soaked face looked at him with utter disdain.

        “Just fucking leave me alone,” Gavin spat out in a single breath, his short and clipped puffs of air sawing his clenched teeth. Embarrassment and anger flared up within his chest at his helpless state. The android acknowledged the request and stood in compliance. He looked down at the detective for a moment as though it were debating whether to follow the order.

        “I will wait outside near the entrance if you require further assistance.” RK900 cautiously stepped over Detective Reed so as not to cause any unnecessary impact. As he began to walk away, Gavin felt an intense pain in his chest that sent a vicious wave of fear in him that maybe this was something more severe. His instincts overrode his senses as he grabbed the androids wrist. RK900 stopped and slowly turned his head to look down at the impediment.

        “Wait…” Gavin struggled to muster out.

        “Detective Reed, would you like me to stay?” He reiterated in the same manner as before. Gavin looked up from his vantage point and nodded his head. RK900 sank back down to the opposing wall as Gavin maintained his firm grip. He pressed his back against the wall and allowed his legs to extend to the wall where Gavin was hunched. Their legs made contact and the android gently rested his arm on top of his thigh and took hold of Gavin’s forearm in the same fashion. In this way, he was able to obtain Gavin’s heart rate. It was almost 100 beats per minute, almost 1.6x the average resting heart rate.

        Gavin looked at their interlocked grip. The tactile sensation of the android’s skin seemed to pull his senses back. It felt like normal skin. It was even warm to the touch, but something was off. What that was, he couldn’t say. Beneath the layer of skin he felt a sort of pulse although, it felt more like fluid oscillating through tubes. It was an odd sensation that reminded him of the ocean.

        “What would you like me to do for you right now?” RK900 said, sharing his gaze at their contact points. The question caught Gavin off guard. He never had anyone around when he lost control like this. He wanted something to focus on that wasn’t his thoughts or this insufferable pain.

        “Can you just talk about something? Anything,” Gavin said. His brow was furrowed in a grimace. His sweat coated skin glistened in the dark. RK900 began to analyze the audio patterns in the room. There was a hum from the electronics in the server room, the florescent lights in the kitchen, the city noise from the opened patio door. In a gentle voice he said, “Don’t be alarmed Detective Reed, I’m just adjusting the ambient noise.” Almost imperceptibly at first Gavin started to notice that the noise in the room began to dim. The only thing he could hear was his erratic breathing. The absence of noise allowed him to focus on the slow and steady pulsing he felt in the android’s arm. He wore an expression that communicated a sense of confusion.

        “I am able to invert sound waves down to the specific frequencies around a certain radius to effectively cancel out noise. We retain the ability to converse however, outside of a range of 8 to 10 meters any sound within the radius is imperceptible. It is a useful feature when stealth is paramount.” Gavin looked up towards the ceiling and closed his eyes, “Another one of your goddamn features.”

        “That is correct.” RK900 then lifted his right hand and held it at eye level with the palm facing towards Gavin. A dim projection of a circle appeared a few millimeters over the surface of his skin. It was just bright enough to be visible without being overly stimulating.

        “The circle is currently contracting and expanding in sync with your breaths. I will offset it so that it will pulse slightly slower than your breath. The speed will gradually decrease until your vitals have normalized. Can you attempt to mimic its speed?” Gavin curtly nodded.

        “Good, now inhale,” RK900 said with more resonance in his voice. The pulse he felt in his hand was in sync with the speed of the projection. He focused his attention at what the android instructed. The lack of ambient noise sharpened the android’s voice until it became a more prominent figure in his mind. Everything he was receiving from the android kept his senses in sync.

        “Exhale.”

        They continued this for what seemed like an eternity until the dizziness he felt from hyperventilating began to subside. The once elongated hallway began to collapse in on itself and returned to its previous state. He became so focused on his breath that his mental faculties covertly returned to him. He relaxed his grip on the android’s forearm causing the projection to flicker out.

        “It would seem as though your heart rate has returned to normal,” RK900 said in a hushed voice. “Welcome back Detective Reed.”

        They sat there for a while, both not wanting to disrupt the equilibrium they had just achieved. Their hands still maintained their interlocked forearm grip albeit more relaxed than before. Their attentions were honed in on each other’s pulses that droned through their fingertips. The anger and embarrassment that Gavin felt prior to this momentary reprieve had abated. Their gazes were far and distant, not on anything in particular until Gavin noticed movement approaching the both of them. Officer Fabien stood before the hallway where they sat with a bespeckled look of confusion adorned across his face. Gavin instinctually retracted his grip with such deliberate and force leaving the android’s solitary upturned hand alone on his thigh. RK900 looked at Gavin to see what was the matter but Gavin was massaging his hand though the android didn’t understand why. Gavin was looking everywhere besides the android. RK900 turned his attention to Officer Fabien who began to speak but no words made their way through the sound dampening radius. RK900 looked at Gavin and said, “Prepare yourself.” Very gradually the ambient noise of the room returned like they floated to the surface of a silent ocean.

        “Sirs, is everything alright?” Officer Fabien asked with concern. Gavin cleared his throat before speaking.

        “Yes, we just had a small accident,” he said hoarsely and gestured to the shards of glass on the floor from the shattered fishbowl. Officer Fabien nodded in agreement though he still didn’t know what to make of their situation.

        “Sirs, we reviewed the available security footage of the parking garage. We spotted a figure that appeared to be the resident’s android.”

        “How can you tell? I haven’t had a description of it,” Gavin said standing up. RK900 followed his lead.

        “We canvassed the neighboring apartments and they provided us with a description.” Officer Fabien said. RK900 recalled the thirium hand print on the server room door. He walked past Gavin over to the server room entrance.

        “W-when did that get there?” Officer Fabien said.

        “It appears we have discovered a hidden server room full of Cyberlife related tech. It is likely that this was where he worked while at home. The secured nature of the room suggests he was probably working on something classified although, nothing seems amiss. The data logs didn’t reveal any recent transfers.” RK900 said as he touched the invisible smeared handprint. He brought his fingers towards his mouth much to Gavin’s chagrin. Gavin ran over to Officer Fabien and placed his arm around his shoulder ushering him towards the living room.

        “So here’s what we think happened,” Gavin said to the officer trying to prevent him from seeing the android finger lick evidence. RK900 analyzed the sample:

 

        Model Number: AP700

        Registered name: Sara

        Property of: Benji Tashino

        GPS location: N/A

 

        RK900 walked out towards the living room. Gavin noticed the android walking over and wrapped things up with Officer Fabien.

        “Did he have a car registered with the building?” Gavin asked the officer.

        “Yes, his parking spot is C-7.”

        “Thanks, I’ll meet you downstairs,” Gavin said. Officer Fabien walked past RK900 and offered a curt nod before exiting the apartment.

        “Detective Reed, the resident had an AP700 android. Sokolov was seen with his android driving out of their parking structure together. Maybe the resident’s android attempted to do the same.”

        “Sokolov was conscious in the footage. Maybe our guy didn’t want to play nice and his android resorted to taking him by force,” Gavin speculated.

        “It’s difficult to say without further evidence.” Gavin exhaled a huff and gave the android an exasperated look.

        “It is certainly a possibility,” RK900 corrected. The android turned his attention to the entrance door. “I’ll go investigate. I would advise that you remain here and recuperate,” RK900 said walking out of the apartment towards the elevator. Gavin quickly picked up a brief sprint to catch up to him.

        “Hey! Like hell you are. I’m still in charge here,” Gavin hissed. The pair entered the elevator together.

        “Detective Reed, you just experienced a traumatic eve—“

        “I’ve fucking dealt with this before. I’m fine. I am perfectly capable of doing my fucking job,” the calm he felt just moments ago evaporated in a haze of anger and embarrassment. He hated the idea that he was suddenly incapable of doing the one thing he was good at. For the android, it wasn’t just an assumption anymore. He had witnessed him rendered completely useless on his home turf. How was he to convincingly assert that he was still competent if he had first hand proof of the contrary?

        “Detective Reed, my intentions were not to insinuate tha—“

        “We’re here,” Gavin said cutting him off. The elevator doors dinged open at parking level two. They walked out to a dim corridor. There were rooms to the left that led to the laundry room and storage units. Over to the right concrete columns in a grid pattern outlined the parking structure. The officers were nowhere to be seen. RK900 adjusted his optics.

        “Detective Reed, the android came this way. There are traces of thirium leading towards the parking structure.” RK900 said in hushed tones. Gavin looked around the room confused.

        “I don’t see shit,” he said in a normal voice.

        “Detective!” he said as loudly as he could while retaining a whisper. “Thirium loses its visibility over time but is still perceptible if viewed through lower frequencies that are beyond human capabilities. Also, the android may still be present so we must proceed with caution.” Gavin began to take stock of his surroundings.

        “I’ll take point,” he said walking ahead of RK900.

        “Detective, I can see where the thirium deposits are. I should go ahead. Any danger directed towards me will allow you time to react. Please, allow me to proceed.” Frustration started to build in the detective. Gavin held out his hand and stared at it. He tried to hold it still but there were still slight tremors. RK900 noticed the minute shimmers of movement as well but refrained from saying anything. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t argue with the logic. Gavin slowly retrieved his gun from his shoulder holster. Unlocking the safety elicited a faint click before he fell into a crouched run over to one of the columns. RK900 followed his lead and quickly ran to an opposing column. Gavin gave him silent hand singles to proceed.

        There was a trail of thirium that wrapped around a corner that led further down the spiral structure. RK900 activated his sound dampeners and quickly began dashing from car to car so quickly that Gavin struggled to keep a visual on him. He kept his distance but tried to keep up with the android. RK900 stopped momentarily before signaling Gavin who was at the opposite end of the floor hidden behind a wall. He pointed to a spot signaling parking space C-7. Gavin noted that the space was empty and signaled him to continue. RK900 acknowledged the signal and readied himself to continue when he heard a low mechanical droning sound. To Gavin it sounded like distorted sobbing that threatened to push him closer to the edge. However, to RK900 the sound waves came in a series of short and long phrases that repeated. He parsed the code and determined it was a Morse code phrase:

 

"H...e….s…….i..n…..s……..i…..d…….e……"

 

        RK900 didn’t know what to make of the message but looked over to Gavin who gave him a determined nod to continue. RK900 pushed off his heels and undetectably darted towards the source of the sound. He crouched down behind a concrete pillar a few meters away from the point of origin. Gavin lightly followed far behind but close enough to line a shot. RK900 peered over his vantage point. There was a row of large commercial dumpsters and a figure standing with their back facing them. The bright light of their android clothing stating their AP700 model number glowed in the darkened room. It appeared feminine: long pulled back ponytail, dark hair, 5’7”, dark complexion, pastel green and white android issued clothing. Her right hand showed signs of damage. Thirium slowly dripped from her fingertips. RK900 looked back and made eye contact with Gavin signaling that he was going forward. Gavin tensed and replied in the negative. RK900 ignored the warning and stepped out from cover. The mechanical sobs started to get louder and Gavin sighed in frustration and aimed his gun at the figure and laid in wait. RK900 was blocking his shot but he steadied himself as a precaution.

        RK900 inched towards her while slowly dropping the dampening field until he stood at arm’s length from her.

        “Sara?” he said. She twitched in response but remained motionless. The wails echoed throughout the garage halls and became so shrill that Gavin winced.

        “Sara we need your help locating your owner. Can you help us?” When she didn’t respond, he gently placed his hand on her shoulder to turn her around to face him. Her face was contorted in severe grief and pain. Her mouth remained motionless as her howls continued to flow out. Her eyes were downcast and weren’t responding to any external triggers. He analyzed her hand and found tiny shards of glass embedded in the exposed exoskeleton. Her LED was a steady red shade that signaled she was close to self-destructing. Nothing from preliminary scans indicated what was causing her catatonic state.

        “Sara, I will have to search your memory to find out what happened to you,” he advised. She didn’t react at the mention of a memory search which would typically elicit a panicked response from deviant androids yet her demeanor had not changed. He grabbed her arm and placed his hand on top of it. Static shrouded his vision momentarily until he saw a pair of yellow glowing eyes hovering in a dark space forcing their way towards him at an intense speed. They crashed into his vision sending a wave of error messages and securities warnings. His vision flashed red and then went dark.

        Gavin saw RK900 collapse to its knees in front of the other android. It looked down at RK900 with a pained expression that began to morph into one of sheer exhilaration as its pained eyes filled with a brilliant yellow light. The wails turned into shrieks of laughter. One by one the limbs began to twist, snap, and writhe back into functioning mobility. Gavin ran out of cover and rushed over to where they stood.

        “Detroit police! Don’t you fucking move!” He shouted down the line of sight of his gun. It leaned forward contorting her head up in an impossible arch, eyes locked in Gavin’s direction as it released a deafening wail. Pain burned in his ears that ignited a matchstick throughout his skin. It leaned into a runner’s stance before launching full force towards him as he released three succinct shots into her forehead. The momentum propelled her forward towards him and he dodged out of the way before she flew head first into a car behind him. He took a tentative step towards her to survey the damage. Its malfunctioning pixelated skin had a slight red glow as the texture glitched in and out like a virus. The laughter slowly subsided until it was a low mechanical hum. It hadn’t moved since the impact which was enough to allow Gavin to slowly back up and run towards RK900.

        “Hey Dipshit, get up.” He said stopping a good distance back. RK900 began to emit a reddish glow as the skin around his neck began to malfunction and glitch. It lurched forward and landed on both hands. Its mouth gaped open, the head writhing in seeming pain. Gavin started to back up, gun aimed at the android.

        “Fucking talk to me goddammit, what the hell is wrong with you?!”

        RK900 turned his head to look where the noise was coming from. His optical receptors were malfunctioning so he was only able to perceive shapes in a cloud of static.

 

“De…..tec……tive…….R……Ee….d…..”

 

        He tried to speak but it came out as low mechanical wails. The more he fought to reclaim his speech, the louder the howling got. He could hear the nearby car windows begin to fracture under the shrill resonance. Flashing red error screens obstructed his view as his security protocols struggled to defend against the onslaught of virulent code. System readings indicated an 86 percent range of compromised sectors that his programming fought to purge and rewrite.  He tried to stand and walk towards the detective’s voice but immediately fell as his face scraped the concrete floor. He turned to face the detective.

 

“D…a….n………g….E…..R…….”

 

        Staring back at Gavin were the glowing yellow eyes the other androids had: Sokolov’s android when it returned without him, Tashino’s android before he unloaded a trio into its head, and now his android who just moments ago had helped him through one of the more egregious attacks he’d experienced since they resurfaced knelt on the ground and stared at him with those glowing eyes. The visible skin seemed set ablaze as the distorted skin texture swam in chaotic waves. Its mouth appeared to unhinged as the shrieking grew louder. It slowly began to make its way into a standing position.

        “Stay the fuck down!” Gavin ordered. He didn’t know what to do as this situation never presented itself before. As exhausted his body had been after that surge of adrenaline earlier, the tremors in his hands became more pronounced when the android started to lurch towards him. The androids eyes flashed with blinding intensity as the wails began to increase in volume. The previously cracked windows started to shatter as it walked past them. The alarms that followed congealed with the wailing and amplified the cacophony. Gavin slowly stepped back wincing in pain at the deafening wall of sound.

        “STOP!” He yelled in an attempt to reason with the android but it continued to stagger forward. Gavin quickly back stepped as far as he could before the noise was too much. His grip on the trigger tightened releasing a shot piercing the android near the left clavicle. He shielded his ears as he winced but kept an eye on the android. The shot stopped it in its tracks as it raised its hand to feel the wound. The sharp piercing shrieks subsided as its fingers pensively pressed against the wound. It returned its gaze at the detective. Gavin lowered his hands from his ears as he tried to gauge its reaction. He didn’t know if there was anything left of the android he walked in with but he was far enough away if it tried anything. Car sirens continued their blaring pronouncements; their flashing lights illuminated the dark structure. In his periphery he saw lights running towards him.

        “Detective Reed?!” Officer Fabien called out to him, gun drawn. Gavin broke eye contact with the android. He saw a trio of officers running to his aid.

        “We heard gunshots. Are you alright?” Officer Fabien asked as he scanned the lot.

        “Yeah we found the victim’s android.”

        “’We’ detective?”

        “Me and my—“

 

Gavin turned to search for RK900 but the android was nowhere in sight.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the delay on this. I wanted the crime to be contained in one chapter and as a result it's twice as long as a normal chapter and took just as long to write. But I hope it was worth the wait. We finally get to some good character development between the two and I'm excited for how it will develop in the upcoming chapters. Next chapter should be up next week on the 2nd of September. Thank you for reading!


	5. Sirens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RK900 has disappeared and Gavin, Luciana, and Officer Cunningham work together to track it down. His internal mainframe has been severely damaged and corrupted by a powerful virus that Luciana has never seen before in her time working at Cyberlife. His trackers have gone offline and the only trace of his existence is a dwindling thirium trail that's slowly dripping out from his shoulder wound. It's a race against time before he shuts down, harms himself, or anyone else he may come into contact with.

          Luciana sat alone in the cold and sterile android repair room. The fluorescent lights illuminated the stainless steel countertops outlining the room and the examination table where her belongings were strewn about. Papers were haphazardly strewn about. Next to her was a standalone monitor with various documents and photos webbed together. She swiped a document on her tablet and it appeared on the monitor next to her. She touched the monitor and attached it to another cluster of documents. The analytics program initiated and highlighted the connections between the previous documents and the new one and created a new data cluster. They were photos of the missing persons and loosely tied info related to their cases. The information available to her was still sparse at best. Alexander Sokolov’s cluster was the more elaborate one since his case had left a majority of the evidence. The documents continued onto the monitors mounted on the walls around her creating a triptych of information. She pulled her loose auburn hair into a makeshift bun and held it in place with a pen before sinking back down into her work.

          A tentative knock at the door peaked her attention.

          “Come in,” she said turning her attention away from her work. Officer Cunningham pushed the door open but made no move to walk through. He let the door glide open as he propped a shoulder up against the entry frame. He wore a white and blue striped long sleeve henley, slim straight dark blue denim jeans, and bright azure sneakers. The blue hues ignited the red of his hair like a sunset over an ocean. His hazel eyes punctured through the black browline glasses he wore. 

          “Hey Lucy, just wanted to check in and see if you needed anyth— Woah, what’s all this now?” The lab was a maelstrom of documents that centered around where she sat. He looked around at her research cocoon before crossing his arms over his chest. It took her a minute to register the change in his appearance. She had only seen him in his standard officer uniform until now. The casual nature of his clothes reminded her that he had a life outside of the precinct. Luciana offered a suggestion of a smile before turning her attention to the tablet in her lap.

          “Just trying to figure out why these people may have been targeted. It’s strange. Sokolov worked for the Biochemical Research Division but we worked together developing the AI for the RK900 model. They seem like contradictory things: biochemistry and what’s basically programming. It’s funny because he wasn’t a social guy. He kept mostly to himself, couldn’t look people in the eyes, but a lot of the human aspects in the RK900 directives came from him. Maybe observing people from a distance allowed him to see things others couldn’t? Anyway, I’m trying to find out what the _biochemical_ part of the equation is and I’m coming up short.” Officer Cunningham’s brow wore concern.

          “I didn’t know you knew him personally. I’m sorry, this must be difficult investigating his disappearance.”

          “He kept everyone at arm’s length so we weren’t ‘personally’ acquainted. But I appreciated his company. Sometimes it would seem as though the RK900 prototype was the closest thing he had to a friend. Not that it was my place considering office politics but I tried to show him that that wasn’t the case.” She kept sifting through files mostly for her benefit than the case. A silence passed between them as Officer Cunningham was at a loss for words.

          “It doesn’t say what he was working on?” he said breaking the silence.

          “Nothing I can seem to find that would point to him being a target. It’s all the standard ‘android biochemical’ research.”

          “They didn’t find anything at his residence?”

          “Not to my knowledge. I’ll have to ask the detective about it when they get back.”

          “What about the other missing persons? What’s their connection?”

          “Are you jumping on to this case Officer Cunningham?” she said turning her gaze on him.

          “I’m just naturally curious. Is all,” he said displaying a cheshire grin.

          “Look, I appreciate your help but if you’re trying to get fresh it’s not gonna happen.” Officer Cunningham held his hands up in placation.

          “Absolutely. Heard you loud and clear the first time. Friends?” He extended his hand towards her as he walked to bridge the gap. She paused and looked at his outstretched hand but made no motion to accept.

          “Platonic friends?” He said. She smiled sarcastically.

          “Office acquaintances that happen to share a common interest and occasionally speak from time to time but from a respectable distance?”

          “Ugh, shut up. Fine.” She shook his hand.

          “Also call me Eldridge.”

          “Ew, why?” She looked genuinely perplexed.

          “Because it’s my name?”

          “Oh. OH. Oh I see,” she said grimly.

          “I’ll have you know that I take quite a liking to my name.”

          “And you should. It’s um… quite unique.”

          “Damn right it is,” he said beaming. He released his grip and propped his wiry figure against the sink a respectable distance away from her.

          “So if all of this attentiveness isn’t a ruse, why are you so nice the android?” She asked skeptically.

          “I uh, I grew up in a town where differences were a liability. Don’t get me wrong, everyone had perfectly good manners but they made it clear when they thought people didn’t fall in line with their expectations. And a lot of times it didn’t take much to gain their ire.” His gaze gradually fell as he spoke.

          “What expectations did you ‘fail’ to meet?” she asked with sincerity.

          “That I cared, I guess? My parents would tell me not to go poking my head where it don’t belong but I don’t know. Seeing injustice don’t sit well with me. Never did. I know that Gavin is acting out of fear but it don’t make it right what he’s doing.”

          “Even if they aren’t humans?” she challenged.

          “Kindness don’t cost a thing.” He looked up at her with fierce determination, no longer lost in a fog of memories that the conversation began to revive. She felt the clarity in his statement and the sentiment resonated in her given the rarity of it. Her time at Cyberlife made it clear that tenacity was valued over compassion and her core values began to mutate the longer she operated in that space. She fought and rose to the occasion and that level of grit often brought with it a good portion of career success though often at a cost to her ideals. But his unwavering determination reminded her that there were still people in the world that cared and fought for what they believed in.

          His gaze shot to the monitors that started flashing a crimson red, engulfing the entire room in flashing lights. Her tablet and her phone emitted the same alert. Luciana shot to her tablet in a panic.

          “Lucy, what’s happening?” Eldridge said much too calmly for the growing sense of dread in her chest.

          “We need to find the android. Fast.” she said succinctly. Her voice void of any of the previous candor froze the blood in his veins.

          “I’ll drive,” He said with no hesitation.

 

\---

 

          Gavin stood cloaked in darkness as he held his gun. The flashing lights of the car alarms illuminated the two officers that accompanied Officer Fabien as they surveyed the perimeter. The resounding off sync sirens echoed off the walls filling the parking garage with a thick auditory wall.

          “Officer Fabien,” Gavin said. “Are your guys still up at security?”

          “Yes, they were reviewing the footage when we heard the gunshots.”

          “Can you radio up and ask if they caught visuals on the android?”

          “The… android sir?” Officer Fabien said looking at the AP700 android with its head completely smashed into a car door.

          “The android I came in with.” Officer Fabien looked confused but the realization began to dawn on him. He contacted the officers in the security room.

          “Be on the lookout for a 6-foot male: Black leather jacket, auburn hair, black pants, last seen on parking level 2,” he said looking at Detective Reed. Gavin noted that he left out the android part and nodded in acknowledgement.

          “Roger that,” a female voice responded over the radio. Officer Fabien walked over towards Gavin and waited for instructions.

          “Look,” Gavin said in as hushed a tone as he could manage over the sirens. “I don’t know what we’re dealing with here but we have to utilize severe caution. I don’t think it’s dangerous but it’s definitely a danger to itself and anyone else it may come into contact with. Do **not** shoot to kill, understand?” Gavin said to the officer who nodded in agreement.

          “Secure the area,” Officer Fabien said to the officers that accompanied him. They nodded and began to make their way to the ramps leading to the other levels.

 

          Wiping sweat off his brow, Gavin dropped into a crouched position enough to see over the tops of the surrounding cars and began to slowly make his way where the android was last seen. There was a pool of vibrant blue thirium that led to a trail he began to follow. Officer Fabien shadowed behind at a distance. The relentless lights and sounds overloaded his senses but finding the rogue android kept him in focus. He didn’t understand how to process what he saw in front of him. The glowing eyes that looked at him with malice when just moments ago were the very thing that guided him out of his panic. The stoicism that became replaced with the dangerous chaotic force. He didn’t have time to think about anything before this moment because regardless if there was anything left inside of the android, it became a liability.

          He felt a pulse gently vibrating in his ear. He tapped the touch sensitive button over the receiver in his ear and answered the incoming call.

          “Detective Reed,” He said.

          “Detective? It’s Officer Cunningham. I can barely hear you. There’s too much interference.”

          “Hang on,” he followed the thirium trail to a stairwell and closed the door behind him and Officer Fabien. The concrete walls dampened the wailing sirens of the cars on the other side.

          “Alright go ahead,” Gavin could hear sounds of police sirens through the receiver.

          “Hey Detective Read, uhh, just checking to see if you were aware that your android is on the fritz.” Eldridge said in mocked composure. It was evident that there was panic underlying his voice.

          “As a matter of fact I—”

          “ASK THE SON OF A BITCH WHERE’S MY GODDAMN ANDROID!” Luciana yelled from the passenger side of the police car causing Gavin to wince. He shrugged off her admonishment and continued to follow the trail up the stairs.

          “You heard the lady,” Eldridge said reverting to his mediator status between the two. He switched the signal from his earpiece to the dash speakers.

          “We’re looking for it,” Gavin said between exasperated huffs of air. “Something happened and it disappeared.”

          “Yeah no shit. We’re headed to your location now but I can’t get a lock on its tracker. His internal mainframe is showing considerable damaged and compromised sectors. He must be wounded. He’s losing thirum at an accelerated rate. What the hell happened?” Luciana began frantically tapping on her tablet trying to find a semblance of where the android could be but came up short. The red warning signs still flashed across her screen illuminating her face.

          “I don’t know!” The assuredness in Gavin’s voice wavered more than he intended. He rounded the corner of the level P1 stairs and saw a faint trace of a smeared blue handprint on the door leading to the ground level exit. He steadied his voice before speaking, “We apprehended an android exhibiting the same symptoms that Sokolov’s android had in the footage. The Dipshit made contact and started to freak the fuck out.” He approached the door and carefully made his way through.

          “Shit shit shit,” Luciana sputtered. “This isn’t good. I’ve never seen programming just disintegrate like this. Something is attempting to rewrite his entire system… Detective, is there anything else that happened? Any other symptoms?”

          “Just the same glowing eyes,” He began as he made his way through the door. It led into an alleyway behind the building. A pool of thirium sat at the base of the door with foot prints of one shoe headed east. “The skin went haywire and glitched out. It started emitting a high frequency sound. Shattered the car windows in the garage and the security cameras. We’re running blind out here. Also you might want to call in the initial officer team to fill them in on the ‘stealth operation’ as its been compromised,” Gavin gestures his head towards the trail and beckoned Officer Fabien to follow.

 

          “That’s the least of my concern right now,” she said dismissively. His words began to sink in until realization surfaced. “Wait wait wait…” Luciana said in a hushed whisper. She swiped over a messenger app and initiated a call. Eldridge glanced from the side and saw “Cyberlife Communications” across the screen.

          “Alvarez 8-2-Charlie-Victor-7-9-0-Echo. I need access to the Midtown comms towers.” She said with deliberate articulation to minimize the desperation in her voice.

          “Roger that. Opening a channel,” a grainy voice said from the other end. She swiped the call away and began to track abnormal audio frequencies in the area. A trail of sporadic spikes in the readings popped up onto her screen that exceeded levels beyond human capabilities.

          “There!” She yelled causing Eldridge to flinch. His glasses went askew and he pushed them back up the bridge of his nose. “I got a frequency hit. Take a right here towards the 75. NOW!”

          “Got it!” Eldridge said as he made a sharp right. Pedestrians on the street corner backed up from the edge as the car inched far too close to the curb. The audio peaks on her screen began getting more and more condensed as their coordinates moved closer and closer to the point of origin. They came up to an overpass above the 75 freeway when Luciana signaled that they had reached the apex of her readings. She flung her tablet on the floor as she opened the door and stood on the sidewalk. Eldridge ran over to her side.

          “What now?” he said. She grasped the bangles around her wrists. The surface was a hazy semi-translucent material encased in gold plating. She fumbled trying to find the switch when they flickered to life and began to emit a bright light with a subtle violet tint and began to scan the area.

          “We use these in the labs to spot minuscule thirium leaks during android repairs. They should highlight traces of thirium in the area. Tell me if you see anything.” She said, eyes focused on the ground.

          “Over there!” Eldridge pointed at a patch of grass on a path that led underneath the overpass. The drops were small but continued down to a steep dirt incline.

          “Hang on, let me go first.” Eldridge said as he skidded along the incline until he dropped to the path below. He dusted himself off before turning his gaze back up to Luciana. Cars sped directly behind him with only a low guard rail separating the path from traffic. He held his arms up as Luciana slid on her thigh down the incline. The large rocks embedded in the condensed earth cut into her jeans. She caught his shoulders upon impact and he lifted her small frame over to his side and placed her down gently. The trail led to a set of doors directly under the bridge that had recently been opened. The light from her wrists illuminated a bright blue hand print on one of the doors.

          “Careful now,” Eldridge said slowly entering the door first. He pulled out his gun that was strapped to his lower back and retrieved a small flashlight from his pocket. The dirt path gave way to murky brick tunnels. Putrid liquid congealed along the pipes above their heads and dripped into puddles below their feet. A foul stench was overwhelming but they pressed on. The light from her wrists illuminated streaks of thirium along the walls. As they made their way through the tunnels, they started to hear a low rumble that caused the bricks to vibrate with each wave. Soon the sound of their footsteps became dwarfed under the weight of the low mechanical howling. Eldridge stopped abruptly as he rounded a corner and his flashlight revealed a hunched figure in a corner facing the wall. Luciana stopped behind him as she saw streaks of illuminated thirium centered around where the figure stood.

          “You alright there buddy?” Eldridge’s deep and resonant voice competed with the howling sounds. His gun was pointed at the figure’s back. The sound of his voice seemed to register as the figured struggled to move. The limbs cracked and writhed as it seemed to fluctuate between rigidity and a lack of control. When it finally turned to face them, the yellow glow from its eyes sent waves of panic into the pair. Luciana felt her body grow cold at the sight of his unhinged jaw locked in an expression she could only describe as immense hopelessness. A pool of thirium poured out from his shoulder and coated his entire left side. She slowly moved past Eldridge who shook his head in disagreement but her attention was honed in on the android. Registering movement, the android’s body stuttered into an upright standing position halting Luciana in her tracks. She noticed the skin texture glitch around his face and neck. The eyes flashed with an intense glow as his arms snapped out to grasp the walls on his side. His hands dug into the brick and held his limp body from collapsing to the floor. A shrill painful shriek emanated from his mouth causing Eldridge and Luciana to cover their ears at the tone. Eldridge dropped the flashlight losing the android to darkness. All they could see were the disembodied eyes that hovered in the dark. The sound vibrated through their bodies pushing them back from where he stood. They screamed in agony but their pleas went unheard underneath the wave of sound from the android. The android’s body began to convulse and his head shot up towards the ceiling. As it looked up the light in his eyes faded and his body collapsed onto the floor with a resounding thud, killing the siren with it.

          Luciana opened her tear stained eyes and looked over to where RK900 once stood and saw no trace of light from his eyes.

          “No… no… no…” she muttered as she quickly crossed the expanse to his side. The faint light from her wrists guided her way. She dropped to her knees and began to rip his black button down shirt open. His sorrowful face scarred with the distorted skin texture that partially revealed his exoskeleton underneath laid motionless. She pressed her hand against his abdomen and began to manually pry apart the barrier to his inner circuitry. Eldridge slowly approached behind and looked over her shoulder at where her hands where. Her shaking hands went rigid as the floodgates of her dismay became completely unhinged. Her shoulders emphasized her sobbing. He saw the exposed cavity on the android's abdomen: No noise from thirium pump regulator, no blue light from the thirium tubing that outlined the interior of his body. His internal mechanisms had gone completely dark.

          “Fuck,” was all Luciana managed to muster as the adrenaline began to subside. Eldridge locked his gun and returned it to his holster. He pressed the receiver in his ear.

 

“Hey Detective Reed, we found him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended on kind of a downer. When I started this story I had a pretty good idea of how things were going to happen but I'm constantly surprised by where the story goes as I begin to write. When I outlined this chapter, I didn't intend for it to end the way it did but here we are. Don't worry, this isn't the end. There is still a lot more story to tell. Again, thank you for reading. I really appreciate you guys sticking with me through this long and ambitious project.
> 
> [Updated Sept 9] There's gonna be a delay with chapter 6. I need more time to map out where this is headed. I'll shoot for Sept 16 at the latest but I'll try to get something up before then.


	6. Reboot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin can't seem to catch a break. 
> 
> After losing RK900 while investigating a crime scene, Luciana and Officer Cunningham were able to track him down. Captain Fowler slaps Gavin with a heavy dose of reality and suddenly the life he has built up for himself is slowly crumbling around him.

          “Do you have any idea how much of a hit this is to the department? We just got a prototype android to help aid us and in less than 24 hours, a mob is able to damage it, one of our detectives uses it as target practice, and now it’s rendered completely non functional on its first investigation out in the field.” Fowler stood in front of his desk pacing the length of it. He punctuated his words with pointed hand gestures in an attempt to piece together the events that had transpired. Gavin was seated in front of him and waited for an opening. The night had left him hanging at the end of his rope. The past few hours had been an intense adrenaline rush that he was just now coming down from and his faculties were beginning to shut down. The lights of the precinct felt targeted on where he sat. Being in Fowler’s office began to feel like an exercise in restraint, something Gavin hadn’t felt the need to confront until recently. His detective status afforded him a certain amount of freedom that he had come to expect, yet since Connor and now his successor imposed their presence, he began to feel that freedom start to diminish.

          “Captain, look, you weren’t there. You didn’t see ho—”

          “It’s a tool to aid you in your investigation,” Fowler said bulldozing Gavin’s protestations, “not a piece of meat to lob at the wolves.” 

          “You’re not listening to me. You weren’t there. It was a liability. The missing person’s android was homicidal and it started doing something to the fucker. It could have been compromised. Hell it could still be!” 

          “We’ll let Luciana decide that.” Fowler said backing him into a corner. Gavin’s instinctual drive to fight began to spike in the enclosed office. The weight of Fowler’s gaze was suffocating.

          “Fowler why are you doing this!? The recall notice has been issued on these things. Why the fuck did they get a new one!?” 

          “Because Gavin you’re the liability here!” Fowler yelled. Gavin felt an unwavering sense of dread take hold of his body. The weight of the sentiment dampened the air. Gavin felt his internal temperature drastically recede. He knew this feeling all too well: Failure. A sigh escaped Fowler’s lungs as he sat on the front end of the desk. 

          “It’s over my head.” Fowler said in a placating tone. “Our superiors don’t trust you with human lives so they brought in a machine.” Gavin deflated back from the edge of his seat. The fight bleeding out of him from where he sat.

          “You’re a good detective. You get results but too often it’s at someone else’s expense.” 

          “That’s bullshit. Who’s feeding you this shit?” His exasperated tone was low but still laced with animosity. Fowler sighed and averted his gaze from the detective.

          “It was Kennedy wasn’t it? Who else could it have been? She knew the risks and agreed to it.” He huffed and crossed his arms in an attempt to keep his hands in place. The bile of betrayal began to fill his mouth and left a disgusted scowl on his face.

          “Gavin, you were her superior. When you ask a subordinate to do a task without an alternative that’s not really a choice. You’re in charge of these people’s lives. You break that machine out there it’ll be back tomorrow good as new. You risk your own people? You don’t ever get them back. I thought that’d be clear after we lost Hank.” Fowler’s voice lowered to that of almost a whisper as though he were speaking to a feral creature.

          “The son of a bitch fell off a roof. For all we know he got too wasted to keep himself behind the rails.” 

          “That’s enough. I know you two had your differences but you’re not gonna sit here in front of my face and spit on his good name.” 

          “Why shouldn’t I? The bastard didn’t respect me enough to approve my recommendation for lieutenant. He said I wasn’t prepared for the responsibilities of the title.” Gavin spat out the sentiment with a bout of disdain. Another betrayal to add to the ever growing list.

          “You think he was wrong? In the time you’ve been here you haven’t had a partner for more than 2 or 3 months at a time. The ones you do have all say the same thing, ‘the ends justify the means,’ the cost being their personal safety. Kennedy was the longest partner to date and you haven’t had one in the year that she left. She filed that complaint because she was concerned that someone else would be placed in the same position she was. And today, not even 24 hours later and you shoot your partner and abandon it at the crime scene.” 

          “How many times do I need to say it: IT WAS FUCKING HOSTILE!” Gavin yelled at the floor. His rage was the only thing keeping him from slipping into despair and he was struggling to keep himself afloat.

          “Wait,” Gavin said as a wave of realization began to pull him under. “So this was some kind of fucking test?” Gavin said bewildered. Fowler looked up from his downcast gaze and stared at Gavin. He didn’t speak but he didn’t have to as his sympathy answered Gavin’s question.

          “And if I refuse to go along with this?” Gavin said trying to blink away the well of shame and embarrassment in his eyes.

          “Then you’re fired.” Fowler resignedly said. Gavin could feel the pity emanating from the captain, a notion he reviled but in the moment he had lost the will to fight and it only offered him a sense of finality. He was too tired to think, too exhausted to fight back, too drained to be upset. He was just a figment of his former self sitting atop well of his depleted resolve. Fowler, sensing the shift in attitude, spoke to fill the silence.

          “Look, I think you need to take some time off.” The sentence made Gavin flinch like a wounded animal that had been scolded. He just nodded his head in acceptance. “Just a day or two until we can get a better idea of what actually happened today. It would be best if we had all our facts straight before I meet with the board of commissioners.” A silence settled over them for a moment as they reached the impasse. The muted noise of keyboards, footsteps and low murmurs played the subsequent overture as the two men set in quiet contemplation. As angry as Gavin was at the circumstance, he knew Fowler was right. He didn’t know what had produced all this unrelenting anger that bellowed inside of him. The job, this career, had become his identity and he was teetering on the edge of losing all of it. Gavin steadied his footing and slowly propped himself up to stand.

          “I guess that’s it then,” he said dejectedly. He made his way over to the door. Fowler spoke just as Gavin took hold of the handle. 

          “It wasn’t just Hank’s decision to to withdraw his recommendation for lieutenant. I agreed with him. You’re good at your job, no one is denying that. But it doesn’t mean anything if your peers don’t trust you with their lives. The promotion would have put their lives in your hands. I know you have it in you so please, use this time to reassess your m.o. This is an opportunity to show them that you’re more than capable of meeting and exceeding their expectations. We already lost one guy. I don’t want us to lose another.”

  
  


—

  
  


          Eldridge locked the stretcher where RK900’s body lay. A trail of sludge mixed with the vibrant blue thirium fluid pooled on the floor of the android repair room and out towards the hallway from where they came. Eldridge and Luciana were both sullied and disheveled from the tunnels. Mud was caked up to their knees and along their arms. She left her emotions behind in the sewer and replaced it with an impassive façade that Eldridge took notice of. He made an effort to keep an upbeat attitude to counter her suppressed anguish but it all seemed to fall short of hitting the mark. She had retreated back into the stoic version of herself that he saw when she had first arrived and the stark contrast between her now and her unencumbered display of anguish unsettled him. Working as a cop he knew all too well the lengths people would go to suppress experiencing such incendiary emotions, and he knew what happened when people became well versed in the practice. However, he kept the concern close to his chest instead of vocalizing them beyond a cheerful demeanor.

          He gestured for Luciana to take hold of the other android arm and she complied. Together they hoisted up the android’s lifeless body off the stretcher to move it towards the assembly platform. The weight was heavier than Eldridge anticipated. The mud along the android’s body shifted under his grip and caused the android to collapse on the floor with a resounding thud.

          “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. He’s a lot heavier than all the other models.” He said apologetically as he rushed to the android’s side. Luciana looked stoically where the android lay and walked over to hoist up her side.

          “The other models are mostly plastic. The RK900 series is structurally reinforced with a proprietary magnesium alloy that allows the android to carry a considerable amount of weight or cause an enormous amount of damage. A plastic structure wouldn’t be able to withstand that amount of pressure, so we opted for a metallic one.” She said as they dragged his body over to the platform. The glossy white machine came to life and emitted a blue hue at the close proximity to RK900. A robotic arm attached itself to the base of the android’s neck and the bottom of the spine and effortlessly suspended the android in the air above the platform.

          “That seems a little overkill don’t you think?” he said.

          “They’re basically weapons. RK800’s were mostly centered around deductive reasoning and crime scene analysis, RK900’s retain that but take a more active combative role.” She said as she began to remove his clothing. She removed his boots, jeans, and jacket. She un-knotted the tie and unbuttoned his shirt allowing it to slip over his exposed body and onto the floor.

          “Sorry about your clothes,” she said. Eldridge looked over their own tarnished attire and shrugged.

          “Not a problem. They’re just clothes,” he said. 

          The android’s skin had completely glitched and large pixelated gashes all across his extremities revealed the white exoskeleton underneath. The other arms of the machine latched onto his limbs and pulled them apart. The sound of unlocking joints sent a wave of sympathy pains in Eldridge as he felt the dislocation in his bones. Hovering before them was a completely dismantled android with only the head and torso connected in the center of floating limbs attached by thin blue plastic inner tubing and cables. 

          “Well that seems a little dangerous. Giving a human or an android the ability to cause that much damage.” Eldridge said concerned. Luciana walked over to the sink and removed her tarnished blouse revealing a nude spaghetti strap tank top. Eldridge turned his back to her as she began washing her arms and her face.

          “You’d have to issue a verbal code in order to initiate an attack and even then the android’s own AI will assess if the use of force is necessary. They’re set to favor the least amount of force anyway so that level of power is usually reserved for extenuating circumstances. Of course you can override their safety measures with another verbal code but obviously I’m not about to hand that sort of control over to the detective. Besides, I doubt he has gotten to the offensive part of the manual,” she said as she remade her hair bun.

          “Why’s that?”

          “I haven’t given him the offensive manual yet. The first part is the safety manual which he would need to go through first in order to get to the dangerous stuff. He’d only know there was a second manual if he had read the first. Considering how things went today, I’m not sure he’s capable of handling it even if he did ask for it.” she said sticking a pen in her hair to hold it in place. She retrieved one of the white lab shirts from the lockers and buttoned the front down. Eldridge turned to face her seeing as she was clothed again.

          “You know we probably should wash this funk off,” he said looking at the sludge on the floor.

          “Yeah, I’ll change once I get the diagnostics running so we can figure out what happened,” she said walking over to a monitor that was connected to the android machine.

          “Ok, I’ll get something to clean up this mess.” He said as he knelt to unlock the stretcher’s wheels. 

          “Hey,” he said as he began rearranging the straps back on top of the stretcher. “Are you ok? Back there you seemed kinda—” 

          “I’m fine.” She said reapplying a dark shade of red lipstick. She was fixated on the compact mirror in her hand. He took the hint and quietly pushed the stretcher out the room and disappeared into the hallway.

  
  


—

  
  


          Gavin exited the elevator and immediately saw the mired floor that led into the android repair room. The muck that clung to the bottom of his shoes began to trigger images of the dark hallway in his mind. Maybe it was the exhaustion of the day but the tremors in his hands were nothing more than a mild irritation. He carefully avoided stepping on the trail and kept close to the wall before entering the room. Crossing the barrier hit his senses with an overwhelmingly pungent smell. He didn’t have time to process it though as he inadvertently stepped into the murky pool on the floor. The muddy sensation crept its way up through his leg and emanated throughout his entire body. He began violently scraping his shoe against the floor trying to remove as much of the goop as he could.

          Luciana looked over her shoulder from the diagnostics monitor to see the detective backing himself into the clean side of the lab. Gavin stilled and turned his back to her as he tried to regain his composure.

          “What the fuck is that?” He said across the room.

          “Mud that was tracked in from the sewer. Don’t worry, it’s not hostile so you won’t have to shoot it,” she said nonchalantly. He couldn’t muster up the effort to lean on his anger to come up with a retort.

          “You would have probably done the same thing if you were there. Something happened to it.” He said with arms tightly folded over his chest. The tension in her began to subside.

          “I know. I’m sorry,” she said turning towards him but keeping her gaze down lost in thought.

          “Any idea what happened to it?” Gavin said. Luciana turned her attention back to the diagnostics monitor.

          “It’s the strangest thing. Somehow it was able to trigger a manual reset. Typically the android itself doesn’t have access to that unless their deviancy threshold is breached. I assumed it triggered a reset in order to prevent the virus from completely taking over. How he was able to do it is still the question.” Gavin’s gaze flickered to the android.

          “Reset, what does that mean exactly?” Gavin inquired.

          “Well, we basically have to factory reset his core AI as well as deleting the backup data that was uploaded to the Cyberlife servers in the past few hours to prevent the virus from spreading further. Basically he’ll be fully functional but he won’t retain any of the memories he’s gained since he’s been activated.” Gavin was overwhelmed with relief. His breakdown in the hallway had been completely erased. He was now the sole owner of that memory. He was overjoyed that he still retained some control over his external perception. And yet, the elation he felt suddenly gave way to a sense of loss that he couldn’t explain. The android had pulled him through one of the more vulnerable moments of his career and didn’t hold it over him or rubbed his face in it. It just managed to continue on with the investigation without calling his effectiveness into question. For a moment he didn’t have to deal with this affliction on his own, and now he was alone again.

          “I’m going over the diagnostics report. I’ve never seen anything like this.” She gestured to the monitor she was seated in front of. Gavin snapped out of his thoughts and gingerly made his way closer to her while actively avoiding the streaks of mud. He eyed the disassembled android in its entirety now. The skin now completely exposed in the florescent light of the room looked much worse than the small amount he was able to see in the parking garage. It was frozen in disarray. The limbs hovering around the torso made it even more macabre. He had never seen them disassembled in this way. His eyes settled on the gunshot wound below the shoulder that dripped with blue blood before looking over to Luciana’s monitor that looked like a translucent neural map. She pointed at a group of bright dots that were larger than the rest of the surrounding dots.

          “For example, this cluster here are proprietary code that’s specific to this model. No other Cyberlife android has this programming and they’ve all been completely re-written.”

          “So in order for someone to attack the code, they would have to know it exists in the first place?” Gavin followed up.

          “Exactly. It had to have been someone that worked on the RK900 series or had access to the research data and that’s a small pool of people. I’ll follow up with my superiors to see if we can get a list of employees who had access.”

          “Why would someone within the development team want to sabotage their own work?”

          “We don’t know if that was the plan. I assume since other androids exhibited the same symptoms that whoever did this didn’t target RK900 specifically, but the program evidently seems capable of taking over the RK processing system. They would have had to expect some contact at some point.” Gavin nodded in acknowledgement. A voice from the room’s intercom interrupted their conversation.

          “Hello, sorry to bother you Luciana but is Detective Reed with you? I have a call from an Officer Fabien.” Jalice said. Luciana gestured to Gavin.

          “Yeah I’m here. Thanks Jalice, put him through.” A monitor lit up and an image of Officer Fabien appeared. He was seated at what looked to be his desk in a more modest police department.

          “Good evening Detective Reed. Captain Fowler got in touch with me to supply the evidence we had available and we found something in that hidden server room you and your partner found.” 

_           Partner, _ Gavin thought.

          “Thanks Officer Fabien, send it over. Oh, this is Luciana Alvaro by the way. She’ll fill you in on the android situation.” Gavin took a step back to allow Luciana to face the monitor.

          “Hello Officer Fabien, a pleasure to meet you. I’m the Cyberlife representative sent to this department to handle the android prototype we’ve provided them.” Officer Fabien sat up straighter in his seat as she spoke.

          “Yes, hello Ms Alvaro. A pleasure to meet you as well.” 

 

          Gavin drifted away from the conversation and watched the file transfer complete. He looked at the dismantled android that had both helped him through one of his fits and tried to attack him. The head hung limp over the chest, mouth agape, eyes half closed. An open hatch on the abdomen exposed all the inner tubes and circuitry. It was so exposed, so vulnerable. He could easily reach inside and rip everything out and destroy it. But the anger that sustained him was out of his reach after his talk with Fowler. He examined the bullet wound closer. The white exoskeleton was exposed surrounded by distorted skin. He peered inside and saw an array of tubes that had been damaged as well as the exit wound. He lifted a hand and placed two fingers below the hole where the blue blood seeped out of and dipped his fingers into the substance.

          The skin around the wound slowly began to glitch around where Gavin’s fingers were until suddenly his entire body began to frantically glitch. The eyes began to emit a low yellow glow as it unnaturally lifted its head into an upright position startling Gavin. He jerked himself back causing him to lose his footing on the black sludge and sent him flying to the ground.

          “Godphuckingsonofacuntbitch,” Gavin exclaimed as his back made contact with the floor. Luciana and Officer Fabien both turned to look back at him in confusion. Luciana saw that the android was reactivating turned back to the officer.

          “Thank you for your cooperation Officer Fabien. We would appreciate it if you kept the android’s involvement in the investigation from the public until after its complete.”

          “Yes, I’ll discuss it with my superiors and get back to you. Talk to you soon.” He said as she ended the call. She walked over towards the monitors stepping over Gavin’s legs.

          “Those murder eyes are back.” He said propping himself up as she began typing out commands.

          “Seems to be a latent effect of the virus being purged. The reboot is almost complete.” The skin slowly began to settle and completely disappeared revealing its gleaming white exoskeleton. The yellow glow in his eyes began to subside into a white glow until it completely dissipated. Gavin stood a safe distance away from it and saw that the eyes had gone dark with small lines of text.

          “There. Virus is purged and the stock AI is reinstalled.” Luciana said. They both watched as the internal tubes began to flicker from emitting a red glow to a stable blue. The eyes returned to their normal grey and the skin slowly began to reemerge across the exterior. It blinked several times before it seemed to regain its awareness.

          “Hello, Luciana Alvaro and, Detective Reed.” RK900 said in its normal tone of voice, a relief for the both of them. Gavin covered his mouth with his hand and whispered discreetly, “How does it know who we are if it was reset?”

          “Facial recognition and access to numerous databases, DPD and Cyberlife included.”

          “Goddamnit I hope it doesn’t know where I live,” he said under his breath.

          “1396 Atwater St,” RK900 said.

          “Of course. Of fucking course,” Gavin groaned. Luciana smiled to herself out of his line of sight.

          “Run a self diagnostics, be thorough. Make sure to look for anything that’s not a part of the base coding.” Luciana said to the android. His eyes dimmed as lines of code began to scroll over the pair.

          “Let’s uh, let’s pull up the footage Officer Fabien sent over while that’s happening.” Gavin said. Luciana opened a video file that was titled server_room_footage.

 

          A low resolution black and white footage began to play. The security camera seemed to be position at waist level pointing towards the front door. The kitchen was partially visible to the right and the living area was completely obscured. Nothing happened for awhile until suddenly there was movement coming from the living room. The AP700 android started running towards the server room holding Parker’s hand. Parker disappeared behind the camera as the android turned around, completely obscuring the view. The android was pushed against the camera and collapsed to its knees, similar to how RK900 did in the parking garage.

          The android stood up, the glowing eyes streaking across the footage as it stumbled down the hallway and walked over to the living room. The exposed skin of its arms started to glitch. After some time, Benji’s body was flung from the living room onto the kitchen table, toppling it over. His body slid off and landed on the kitchen floor. He placed a hand down beside him and tried to prop himself up as his gaze turned to the living room. The android walked over and punched him in the face knocking him unconscious. The android stood over his body for a moment before turning around back to the server room. It began pounding on the wall and trying to interface with the locking mechanism but it wasn’t letting it through. Then the android stilled and slumped over. It jerked around and started to hobble its way down towards the entrance. It opened the door and walked out leaving the door open.

          “Wait,” Gavin said. “Frame back a bit.” Luciana rewound the footage back frame by frame.

          “What are you seeing?”

          “There,” he pointed to the kitchen floor. “The body is gone.”

          “Did he get up?” Luciana asked.

          “I don’t think so. The android clocked him pretty good. Go back to when it gets up in the hallway.” Luciana rewound back to when the android was on its knees. All they could really see was the silhouette of the shoulders and the glow of its eyes. But its back was facing the camera, those couldn’t have been the AP700’s eyes. Luciana advanced the footage until it stood upright and started walking back towards the living room.

          “Stop,” Gavin said. “Look there,” as he pointed to the legs. The figure was completely shrouded in darkness in the high contrast light but it was clear what he saw. “Something is standing next to it. There’s another android in there.” Luciana zoomed into the area he was pointing at.

          “That’s… no. Those look child sized. The daughter maybe?”

          “No, the Dipshit found her hidden in the server room so she would have been hidden by this point.”

          “You’re saying that’s a child sized android?” Luciana said in disbelief.

          “Go back to when it was kneeling down.” Luciana rewound the footage.

          “There, zoom in there,” Gavin pointed to the glowing eyes he saw before. “Those are another set of eyes. The AP700’s back is to the camera, we shouldn’t be able to see them.” Luciana increased the gamma as the figure came into focus.

          “Oh my god,” she exclaimed as a partial face of a child came into focus. The glowing eyes staring straight into the camera.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this. I have a rough outline of the story but as I write, the details start to change so I had to take some time to re-map where the story was going. Shooting for another update for the 23rd. See you then!


	7. Remember Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin leaves Luciana in charge of the case as he prepares to go on his mandatory leave. Luciana finishes reformatting RK900's AI and laments the loss of his memory. However they soon realize that RK900 hasn't forgotten everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6 Recap:  
> \- Gavin is at his lowest point. Fowler had just revealed to him that the board of police commissioners don't trust Gavin with human lives and assigned an android to him as a test. One that he seems to be failing. He also revealed that his former partner Kennedy Adesina voiced concerns about Gavin's questionable judgement when it came to the safety of his colleagues. Fowler places him on mandatory leave as they figure out what happened at the crime scene.  
> \- Luciana works to piece RK900 back together after it self-resets in order to prevent a rogue virus from completely taking over its programming. She laments over the fact that she will have to completely reformat its AI which will cause it to lose its memory since it arrived to the DPD.  
> \- As Gavin and Luciana reviewed the crime scene footage that RK900 found in the hidden server room, Gavin realized that there was another android in the room during Benji Tashino's abduction. A child sized android.  
> \- Eldridge continues to clean up the mess created when RK900 was dragged back into the lab.

          Eldridge huffed it over to the supply room and managed to find a mop and a bucket. Typically it would be a job for the janitors but they wouldn’t come in until after midnight and that would give the sewer smell time to seep into the fibers of the lab. He made his way back to the elevators and ran into Chris and his partner Officer Zorzi standing in their casual attire. They stopped their conversation when they saw Eldridge approach.

          “Sup El,” Chris said. His face turned into a grimace as he eyed the taller man up and down. “Not to be rude but boy do you smell ripe.”

          “You smell like literal shit,” said Zorzi as he chewed on gum. Eldridge grinned abashedly and shrugged his gaze off to the side.

          “Yeah, sorry about that. There was an emergency with Lucy and her android in the sewers. Had to go fish him out.” Zorzi crossed his arms over his black and red striped runner’s jacket and looked at Eldridge decernedly.

          “So. You and the Cyberlife chick tryna smash or what?” Zorzi said with all the tact he could muster. Eldridge tried to maintain his composure at his directness but the heat in his face betrayed him.

          “Y’all it’s not like that. She’s just giving me a crash course on all that android stuff you know. That’s all,” he pushed his glasses up with the back of the hand that held the mop. Chris and Zorzi exchanged looks with each other.

          “As in, she shows you on the doll how she wants to be touched?” Zorzi said with a straight face. Eldridge reactively let a strained laugh. Chris elbowed Zorzi in the shoulder.

          “Come on man don’t be a dick,” Chris said. Zorzi lifted his hands in confusion as though he sincerely didn’t understand what the problem was. The elevators chimed and the doors opened. Zorzi immediately strutted on in and held the door open for the other two.

          “Coming or what? Not you Elly, we’ve already covered that,” Zorzi said. Neither Chris or Eldridge moved from where they stood.

          “Yo fuck off Anthony,” Chris said without any malice.

          “Fuck you too,” Zorzi said as he stepped back into the center of the elevator and flipped them off with both hands as the doors closed. Chris sighed and looked back to Eldridge.

          “Sorry about that man, he’s an asshole.”

          “It’s fine,” Eldridge said with a smile. Chris looked at him concerned.

          “You know you don’t have to put up with his shit right? He’s ignorant but he’s not intentionally trying to hurt anyone. If you’re not cool with what he’s saying you should let him know,” Chris said. Eldridge allowed his words to sink in before speaking.

          “Thanks Chris, I appreciate it but it’s really not a problem. Anthony has been like that since I got here. I know what kind of person he is and he don’t bother me nothing.” The elevator chimed and the doors slid open. Chris walked into the elevator and held it open for Eldridge. He shook his head.

          “I’m headed down to the repair lab to go clean up the mess. Already dressed for the occasion,” Eldridge said putting his sullied outfit on display. Chris gave him a quiet smirk before releasing his hand from the door.

          “See you tomorrow El,” Chris said as the doors closed. Eldridge gave him a wide smile as the light from the elevator reflected from his glasses.

 

—

 

          “We should probably find the victims car. In Sokolov’s footage, he and his android left the parking garage in his car and the android returned alone. Tonight Tashino’s car was missing, the android was still in the parking garage when we got there. Someone or some _thing_ must have taken Tashino away from the scene,” Gavin said. The footage of the child sized silhouette staring at the camera with its glowing eyes was frozen on the monitor above them. RK900 had successfully been rebooted, its head and torso suspended in air by the repair apparatus. As Gavin spoke, the LED began to sustain a brilliant yellow with bouts of red scattered about. Luciana stood next to the terminal and noticed the LED flashing in her periphery. She was next to the android and looked between the two of them. Gavin was distracted by the footage on the monitor and RK900’s gaze was cast downward onto the floor. She figured it was just part of the diagnostics she asked him to run and turned her attention back to the diagnostic terminal.

          “I guess that’s the best lead we have right now. His self-diagnostics should be finished momentarily. I’ll need to repair his chest and back plate, the inner tubing and circuitry, and clean all the gunk off him and he’ll be good to go by the time you get back tomorrow,” she said as she started rummaging around the room for all the necessary items. Gavin shot a glance in her direction and turned towards her.

          “I’m uh… I’m on mandatory leave for the next day or two until they can figure out what happened tonight,” Gavin said. The severity in his voice caught her attention and she paused to look at him.

          “I see,” she said as she returned to rummaging. Gavin’s attention was lost in the murky floor. The both of them had acclimated to the pungent smell, a thought that would normally have repulsed him, but in this moment he was too preoccupied with his standing in the department. For all his bravado, he had never fallen this far and it scared him to lose everything he had worked so hard for. He was never on the best of terms with his parents but they were there for him even if they left him emotionally wanting. As difficult as his time on the streets were, it surprised him how generous people were when all they had to rely on to survive was each other. Then when Turman brought him into his home, he finally had someone who made an effort to build up Gavin’s sense of self worth. Not to completely eradicate the person he was, but to show that lost and wayward kid that his life had purpose other than mere survival. He had given Gavin something far more valuable than food or a house to sleep in. He had given him purpose. Now the job he held close to heart was slipping through his fingers and with Truman gone, he had no one left to help him pick up the pieces. The independence that he sought had become the very thing that severed his means of support.

          Luciana looked over and saw the man trapped in a memory vice. The hostility of their relationship seemed to be miles away from where it was just a few hours ago. She held up two glossy white plates and a handful of small tubing. Robotic arms attached to the ceiling grabbed hold of the materials and began to work on repairing the android from the inside out. The glow from the lazers illuminated the room as the rudimentary machine restored the more advanced machinery within its grasp. The damaged chest plate had been ripped from its chest and exposed the inner mechanisms. A regulator that resembled a human heart was pumping the blue thirium fluid throughout the torso. The damaged tubing around where it was shot was replaced. Though her allegiance had always been to her work, Luciana was suddenly hit with the realization at how fragile the machines were. In front of her was a machine that was at the mercy of another in order to resume functionality, and next to it was a man who seemed far more damaged than the android was. Unfortunately for him, there were no human repair machines that could alleviate whatever had rendered him resolutely mute.

          “I’m sure it will be fine,” she offered despite how shallow the platitude was. “This virus wasn’t something anyone had anticipated. Even if it were, it shouldn’t have been able to affect the RK series like this.” Gavin allowed the words to wash over him like waves over a buoy. In this moment of quiet contemplation, exhaustion began to creep over his body pulling him underneath the surface.

          The doors flew open before either of them could speak.

          “Oh man, it’s even worse than when I left,” Eldridge said with a face of disgust over the smell in the room. “I just finished cleaning up the hallway. I’ll get started here,” he said as he began to squeegee the acrid sludge into a pan.

          “Thanks, did you need a hand?” Luciana offered.

          “I’ve got it. I’ll be done in a jiffy,” he said working with an incredible amount of gusto that neither Luciana nor Gavin possessed. Gavin shook himself back to consciousness and began to collect his thoughts.

          “I’m just gonna finish up my report before I leave. See if you can get any further intel on his car,” Gavin said heading to the entrance, careful to avoid stepping on the sludge.

          “Please be sure to be thorough with your report. With his memory wiped RK we’ll need to use your account of the events to bring him up to speed on the investigation,” she said. He gave her a curt nod.

          “What car?” Eldridge said as he emptied the goop into the sink. Luciana lobbed the question over to Gavin.

          “The missing person from tonight, his car is missing. Figured it may give us a clue to where he was taken.”

          “The detective has been.. He’s off for the next day or so.” Luciana said. The tone of her voice conveyed something more severe than simple time off. Eldridge knew that Gavin hated relinquising control over a case. Considering how despondent the detective looked, he knew the circumstances couldn’t be good.

          “Oh. Well I could look into it for you while you’re gone,” Eldridge offered.

          “What’s in it for you,” Gavin asked suspiciously. Eldridge was no stranger to the man’s attitude so he continued to mop the floor as nonchalantly as he could. The sanitized smell of the soapy water commingled with the pungent sludge.

          “Nothing, just figured you didn’t want the trail to get cold. Every second counts with missing persons you know,” he said with a bit too much sincerity.

          “Fine, whatever. Thanks,” Gavin said has he huffed out of the room leaving the two speechless.

          “Did he just say ‘thanks?’” Luciana said from behind Eldridge. He stopped mopping and propped his hands on top of the rod.

          “I could barely make out the gratitude but you know what, I think he did,” Eldridge said chuckling to himself.

          Eldridge continued to mop the floor as Luciana monitored the androids progress. She kept an eye out for anything that might have been overlooked, as unlikely as that was.

          “Sorry about all this. You were just about to clock out before things went haywire. Thank you for your help tonight,” Luciana said. Eldridge placed the mop back into the bucket and wheeled it over to a wall before he took off his muddy henley revealing a damp white undershirt. He moved over to the sink and began to wash his hands and arms.

          “Hazard of the trade Lucy, think nothing of it.” He said as he splashed water on his face and neck. “I appreciate you taking the time to teach me about your work. It’s nice seeing someone so passionate about what they do. You know you hit a certain age and that sort of enthusiasm just disappears.” Luciana threw him a towel from one of the drawers that he effortlessly caught.

          “Not from what I hear. I heard Gavin and Hank used to be quite the pair.” Before she started working with the DPD, Luciana was able to go through the data collected by RK900 of her soon to be colleagues.

          “Yeah well, things change. Hank had a pretty clear vision of himself up until he lost Cole. He was defined by his son. So much so that he couldn’t go back to what he used to be without him. It seemed to change when they brought Connor in. It reignited that fire in him that he used to have. And Gavin, I don’t know. His passion is dangerous. He sees obstacles instead of opportunities. It’s not a healthy way to live when you think everyone is out to get you. And this is probably the biggest threat to him right now.” He gestured to RK900.

          “It’s just a tool to aid the department,” Luciana said matter-of-factly.

          “Gavin doesn’t see it that way and honestly, I can see where he’s coming from. All the menial jobs became automated and that put a ton of people out of work. Which, granted, was probably really mundane work, but now you have a certain percentage of the population that are barred from those jobs and no government system in place to help them. And now with these prototypes that can pretty much do what we can at a more effective rate, how long before they start to favor a machine over a human?” Luciana just nodded in acknowledgement. She was essentially at the top of the food chain as far as work goes, but even she knew that eventually there would come a time when even her job would be rendered obsolete to either outsourcing or automation.

          “That Kamski fellow keeps saying that you can’t stop progress and I agree, but we’d have to reconfigure the way our society works if means a workforce that’s predominantly automated.” Luciana allowed a smile to crawl across her face.

          “You know, you sound more like a politician than a cop.”

          “What, me? Nah, nope. That’s not for me. You have to know how to play the game with politics and I can’t stand that sort of peacocking.”

          “You sound perfect for the job then. Everyone hates politicians, what better way to disrupt the system than to give people another option to rally behind?” Eldridge started to mull the idea over in his head.

          “Besides, your name is absolutely perfect for it,” she jabbed.

          “Woman you best shut your mouth about my name you hear?” he said throwing the towel over his shoulder.

          The lines of code dimmed from RK900’s eyes as he came back to consciousness.

          “Diagnostics complete. Systems nominal.” Relief overcame Luciana which Eldridge took notice of.

          “Do you know where you are?” Luciana asked. The android took a moment to locate its GPS.

          “I seem to be in sublevel two of the Detroit Police Department,” he said as he looked around the room. The robotic arms still working on repairing his internal mechanisms as they spoke. Sparks flew from inside of his chest illuminating their faces.

          “What’s the last thing you remember?” she asked.

          “I seem to recall being activated at the Cyberlife headquarters some time ago. I was briefed on my directives regarding the android related missing persons case.”

          “Well, everything seems in order,” Luciana said. “We’ll see how the repairs are in the morning.”

          “Hey why don’t we ask him his opinion of Detective Reed? Since they worked together and all,” Eldridge said.

          “Oh, actually his memory—” Luciana said before the android cut her off.

          “He’s…” the LED stuttered yellow. “He’s hostile to a fault. I don’t know what the cause of them are however, his outbursts seem, disingenuous,” the android said. It seemed to be lost in thought.

          “How… how is this possible? His memory was completely wiped, he shouldn’t be able to recall anything from today,” she said as she walked over to the diagnostics terminal and began parsing through the code.

          “What do you mean?” Eldridge asked.

          “We had to prevent the virus from spreading so the backups from today were destroyed as well as all his onboard data. He’s speaking as though he has memories of today’s events when that shouldn’t be the case at all. Can you keep him talking? I need to find out where he’s accessing these memories.” Her voice was laced with panic. The fear that maybe the reformat hadn’t completely wiped everything and that there were still traces of the virus left over. Eldridge continued to speak with the android.

          “What do you mean _disingenuous_?” he asked.

          “His aggression is present in his vocal mannerisms and auditory levels. Typically an increased heart rate would accompany anger yet his is often level. It’s almost as though the anger were a facade to distract from something else. What that is I cannot say.”

          “All that from a heartbeat?” Eldridge inquired. “I can’t imagine what else he’d be able to pick up. I can probably get some of his hair.”

          “That isn’t necessary. I accessed his medical history from his annual checkups and there’s nothing out of the ordinary for a 36 year old male. However anything prior to his time here at DPD is restricted without authorization.”

          “What sort of authorization?”

          “He has access to public information but if it’s about an individual’s personal history he’d need to have a legal reason to access private information,” Luciana said over her shoulder.

          “How far back can you go?” Eldridge said.

          “Why do we need to know?” Luciana interjected as she furiously typed.

          “I don’t know, insight into why he’s such a fucking asshole? And if it’s all public info why not?” Eldridge shrugged.

          “He was born October 7, 2002 in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were Ianto and Nia Hughes. Brother: Ethan Hughes.”

          “Stop,” Luciana ordered as she turned away from the terminal to look at Eldridge. “This isn’t right. Gavin is an asshole but he deserves his privacy. We shouldn’t be digging into his business like this.” Eldridge knew he was stepping over a fine line but the seed had already been planted.

          “No, you’re right but…” he said with his attention honed in on the android. “His parents surname was Hughes. When did he change it to Reed?”

          “At age 18 he changed his surname from Hughes to Reed. This coincided around the same time that paperwork was filed to assign a ‘Truman Reed’ as his legal guardian,” the android said.

          “What’s the status of this Truman Reed?”

          “Deceased. Cardiac arrest during surgery following a heart attack. No next of kin other than Gavin Reed and ex wife Senam Dagher age 48, currently residing in Ann Arbor, Michigan.”

          “What’s the status of his parents?” Eldridge asked.

          “Both are alive and reside in Chicago, Illinois.”

          “They’re still alive? What the hell happened between him and his parents?”

          “I don’t know but that’s not something we need to be digging into,” Luciana said. She didn’t want to admit it but the revelation already began to color the way she viewed the detective. A silence fell over the room only to be interrupted by the android.

          “I’ll ask Detective Reed,” the android said.

          “NO!” Both Luciana and Eldridge exclaimed.

          “Hey um, buddy, you don’t need to bring that up with him. Just forget what we learned here today,” Eldridge said.

          “Yes, it’s not relevant to the investigation,” Luciana said. The information had completely distracted her from the initial panic she felt.

          “I disagree. I believe that sharing personal history is an effective method at building trust and will result in a more beneficial partnership. The impedance frequency will be reduced and we will be able to divert our attention to the mission at hand. We cannot afford distractions and we also need the DPD on our side. A successful result will be a positive net gain to both Cyberlife and the DPD. Gaining Detective Reed’s trust will also improve the likelihood of a positive outcome. What he lacks in social aptitude he makes up for in intuition.”

          “What are you basing that assertion on?” Luciana said bewildered.

          “He noticed an anomaly in the footage we acquired today as well as the footage that was shown in the initial briefing.”

          “How is this possible? This shouldn’t be possible,” Luciana said. Her thoughts running a mile a minute searching for an explanation.

          “Wait, so you were listening as we were examining the footage earlier?” She asked.

          “Correct.”

          “So when your LED flickered, that wasn’t your self diagnostics was it?”

          “I was both listening and running diagnostics simultaneously. I noticed a pattern when Detective Reed pointed out the anomalies in similar situations and decided to take note of it.”

          “What the fuck is going on,” she muttered as she began searching through the lines of code.

          “Are you actually sticking up for Gavin? Do you recall that he shot you and left you for dead?” Eldridge said. The android’s LED flickered red as it processed the question. “Besides,” Eldridge continued. “What does him noticing a few hiccups have to do with his value as an asset to the investigation? You can process a crime scene faster than he can.” He said this without any animosity towards Gavin. He was genuinely curious.

          “The difference is that Detective Reed isn’t relying on software, his deductive reasoning is innate. Since deductive reasoning is one of the more notable features of my model, I found his aptitude for it also noteworthy,” RK900 said without a hint of emotion for a phrase that would often convey a sense of pride. He said it as though he were stating a fact or a mere observation rather than trying to convey emotional subtext.

          “Well I’ll be damned,” Eldridge said. “I do believe that is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said about the man. Good thing he weren’t here to hear it. Probably would have shot his ego up an ungodly amount.”

          “What was the status of your self diagnostics scan?” Luciana said.

          “As I stated earlier, systems are nominal. I detect no anomalies or compromised sectors.”

          “No traces of any foreign code?”

          “Negative.”

          “Then where are you accessing these memories regarding Detective Reed?” The LED began to run a sustained red as he processed her question.

          “I—I don’t know. The memories are accessible however I am unable to discern their origin.”

          “And the fact that he injured you doesn’t affect your assessment of his abilities?” Luciana said. His LED flickered back to red as the subject of being shot came up again.

          “I do not seem to recall being shot despite seeing evidence to the contrary,” he said as he looked at the damaged chest plate being held up by one of the robotic arms. “But to answer your question, no. It does not affect my assessment. I am an android. I am aware of my nature and the hazards that accompany it. I am designed to accomplish a task. Whatever happens to this consciousness or this body is inconsequential.” For all of her defiant posturing, this harkened to her emotional attachment to the machine. Working with androids as long as she had provided her with a certain sense of emotional distance but this blatant display of, what appeared to her, as minimizing the value of his inherent worth was too jarring. Years of research, trial and error, and sleepless nights went into his creation. He wasn’t just code, he was a product of relentless devotion.

          Eldridge gently laid a hand on RK900’s shoulder. “You’re not just an android to us you hear? You have people that care about you and don’t want to see you get hurt. So you’d best be careful now. We don’t want to lose you.” He lightly slapped RK900’s cheek. Luciana sat in her quiet appreciation of the display of affirmation and hoped some of it registered in the android.

          “He’s right. _You_ are important to us. So be careful out there,” Luciana said. RK900’s LED maintained a steady yellow before speaking. He eyed the both of them before allowing his gaze to fall on the floor.

          “Thank you. I will.”

 

—

 

          Gavin sat at his terminal typing out the finishing touches on his report of the evening. He was meticulous with the details as requested by Luciana although he managed to omit any mention of his attack and how the Dipshit had helped him through it. Up until now he was able to manage it on his own, or so he thought. At the very least he was able to get by without it affecting his performance until tonight. He had never pursued any avenues that would lead to a diagnosis. A diagnosis would make the problem a real and tangible thing that he would be labeled with and weaponized against him. He didn’t want to become part of that kind of demographic that required assistance to merely exist. Not when he was able to get this far on his own. He was a fighter and was determined to become the self sufficient person that was able to obtain this position.

          And yet, as he sat in the hallway with the android, their hands interlocked in a forearm grip, it was the most succinct transition between panic and stability. He knew that there was a breathing aspect to mitigating his attacks but everything else, the sound dampening, the visualization, the comfort in not being left to his own devices, all of it made it easier to break free of that constricting hallway of his mind. He thought he imagined it at the time but he could still feel the slight traces of a heartbeat pulsating from the android’s fingertips, though why Cyberlife would feel the need to achieve that level of detail he couldn’t say. But feeling the steady pulsing against his own erratic heart provided him a baseline to follow. It became a beacon in the dark haze of his mind. Though what was he to do without it now? The android resetting effectively placed the burden of his affliction solely back on his shoulders. Dealing with this alone for all these years had surely afforded him the mental fortitude for such a task, yet the android had pierced through the barriers Gavin had built to protect himself from the pity of others. It felt like such a dangerous thing at the time that the android resetting felt like a godsend. Yet now, as his body void of all its adrenaline sunk into exhaustion, a part of him began to mourn the loss of the shared experience.

          Out of the corner of his eye he saw Officer Cunningham walk out of the elevators and into the break room. His hair was damp and he wore a dark DPD hoodie that clung to his wiry frame. He had changed out of his mud stained jeans and traded them for a pair of tapered sweats. He left the break room holding two cups of coffee and disappeared back into the elevator. Gavin sent his report off and began to collect his things in his gym bag. He quietly traced Officer Cunningham’s path back to the repair lab to see if Luciana had any last minute questions about the case. He approached the entrance but stayed out in the hallway.

          Gavin peered through the glass panels that were on either side of the door and saw the android still suspended by the repair machine. Luciana had also changed out of her sullied jeans and both her and Officer Cunningham were seated around the android having a conversation. Luciana laughed at something that was said. Officer Cunningham elbowed the android in the side as he told what looked to be an amusing story. The scene began to unearth something within the recesses of Gavin’s mind. He had been in this situation before when his parents had brought that android home and expected him to treat it as part of the family. The memory brought along with it all the feelings of anger and isolation that began to coalesce into something more dangerous: a sense of hopelessness that everything he loved and cared about would eventually be replaced by something artificial and that someday, he would be as well. And now, he was watching another android receive the sort of love and affection that was never afforded to him by his colleagues. He knew that he hadn’t done anything that was deserving of that kind of attention but the stark difference between how the android was treated in the short amount of time since its arrival versus how he’d been treated in the years that he had given to the department were too striking to ignore.

          The android lifted his head and peered back at the detective. His eyes lit in recognition as he mouthed an inaudible, “Hello Detective Reed” behind the glass panels. Officer Cunningham and Luciana both stopped and looked at the android’s line of sight before turning their attention towards the door. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. They shrugged and resumed conversation.

          Gavin pressed his back against the wall where he hid and waited to hear any signs of movement in the room but heard nothing. Their muffled voiced resumed and he quietly made his way back towards the elevator.

 

—

 

          Gavin sat in his car seething with anger and regret. He shoved the keys into the ignition and just sat there debating his next move. Before he knew it he had tapped his earpiece and said, “Call Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago.” His restless leg began bouncing up and down as he waited for the call to connect. He hadn’t been back to the hospital since he ran off when he was 16.

          “Hello, Northwestern Memorial, Annette speaking, how may I help you?” the voice said on the other end.

          “H—hello, I’m calling to see if an Ethan Hughes is still a patient there,” Gavin said.

          “One moment please,” the receptionist said before placing him on hold. It had been two decades since he last saw his brother. Even when he ran away from home and started living on the streets, he made a conscious effort to visit his brother as often as he could. He mapped out the hours his parents would visit Ethan and avoided running into them. Until one day when a nurse informed his parents that there was another visitor. He had inadvertently ran into his mother who was seated at Ethan’s bedside. His hand cradled within hers. The scene filled him with so much rage at her betrayal against the both of them. For her to be seated here as though she cared about him while that fucking abomination was at the house infuriated him to no end. He stormed off before she could call out his name. That night he decided to get as far from Chicago as he could.

          “Hello, I’m sorry sir he’s no longer with us.” Her words hit Gavin with a considerable force and he sank back into his seat. His leg void of the anxious anticipation it once had.

          “Oh… I see,” was all he could muster.

          “Oh my god, no not like that. I’m so sorry. He checked out of here and moved to another facility.” Hope returned to him but he kept the fire dim.

          “Wait, so he’s awake? When did this happen?”

          “I’m not sure what the status was with him when he was discharged. I’m sorry sir.”

          “Do you know where he was moved to?”

          “I’m sorry sir, that information is classified.”

          “Please,” Gavin said with desperation creeping into his voice, “I’m his brother Gavin Re— Hughes. Gavin Hughes. I’m just trying to find out what happened to him.” Silence filled the call for a moment. He held his breath the entire time so as not to miss anything.

          “The only information I have is that he was scheduled to transfer to DMC Harper University Hospital in Detroit, Michigan on the 20th of October, 2020.”

 _Our birthday_ , Gavin thought. _He was transferred when he was 18?_

          “Thank you so much for your help,” Gavin ended the call before she could respond. He clicked the earpiece again.

          “Call DMC Harper University Hospital, Detroit, Michigan,” Gavin said. He didn’t know what to make of the transfer. Maybe it was a positive sign. Maybe he was beginning to wake up.

          “Harper University Hospital, Travon speaking, how may I help you?”

          “Hello, this is Detective Gavin Reed of the DPD, I’m calling to see if there was a patient named Ethan Hughes registered in the hospital.”

          “One moment please,” He didn’t want to hope but the thought of being able to see Ethan again flooded his senses. He may still have someone out there he could call family.

          “Hello? There doesn’t seem to be anyone by that name registered here. The only record we have of an Ethan Hughes was October 2020. The records say the was transferred here then handed to a Cyberlife facility.”

_Cyberlife… why are they involved with Ethan?_

          “T—thanks Travon,” he muttered before ending the call. The feelings of exhaustion had quickly dispersed and every atom in his body had been reignited. He needed answers. He took his keys out of the ignition and ran back into the precinct.

 

—

 

          Gavin stood outside of the android repair room and peered in. The room was dark and the only visible light came from the blue glow that came from the android’s internal circuitry. Seeing that the lab was uninhabited he entered the room. The strong fluorescent lights awoke to his presence and in turn so did the android. It lifted up his head and opened his eyes to reveal the familiar grey. Gavin was close enough to see the pupils constrict as the light hit its eyes. The small details made the machine feel that much more human and it would have been enough had it not been for the LED affixed to its temple.

          “Good evening Detective Reed. How are you feeling?” the android said. The question caught Gavin off guard. Before him the android was suspended in pieces. The left arm and leg had been reattached while the other two limbs hung from the ceiling armature. The chest plate had been removed exposing all the inner tubes, circuitry, and mechanisms. To top it off it was practically nude save for a pair of black square cut trunks. The skin looked even more pale against the black material. It looked worse off than he felt from a visual standpoint.

          “Does it hurt?” Gavin immediately regretted the question. Of course it didn’t, it was an android for fucks sake. RK900 looked down at his exposed chest and his severed limbs.

          “No, it is not causing me any discomfort,” the android said without any condescension which took Gavin by surprise. The lack of ridicule or admonition offered Gavin permission to speak more freely which he relished in. At the moment he felt just as exposed as the android was.

          “I need your help,” Gavin said, unable to allow himself to make eye contact. He kept his attention busy at all the spare parts scattered across the room. Eldridge had done a pretty good job at cleaning the floors and getting the stench out. Now the room was in another sort of disarray. At least it was the kind that was intended for such a room.

          “Of course Detective Reed. How may I be of assistance?” His polite demeanor was disarming. It had been so long since someone had asked him what he needed or even showed a modicum of kindness. A kindness that he knew he didn’t deserve. He thought that maybe Fowler had been right. That for him the ends did justify the means and that he was using the android to do something he maybe shouldn’t do. Doubt began to fester in his chest causing him to feel another surge of panic. He started to back away.

          “Nevermind, forget it,” He walked towards the door and tried to leave as quickly as possible. Embarrassment began to blossom across his face as a firm but gentle hand grasped his shoulder. The sudden contact made Gavin flinch away from the grip sending ripples throughout the machine that held up the android. It slowly lowered its hand back down to its side and wore a chastised expression. The piercing grey eyes bore their way into Gavin’s the way they had back in the crime scene hallway. His breath, spiked by the unexpected physical contact began to slowly subside as they stared at each other.

          “Please, Detective Reed. Allow me to help you,” the android said in earnest. The fight drained out of Gavin as desperation began to take up residence. He never wanted to rely on others for help but other than Truman, no one had been adamant in offering. He relented and spoke, “Can you find any information regarding Ethan Hughes? He was a patient in Northwestern Memorial Hospital up until October 2020 and was transferred to DMC Harper University Hospital. I need to know what happened after that.” He stood up straight, folded his arms over his chest, and waited for an answer.

          RK900’s LED emitted a bright yellow as the search began. Its eyes went vacant as it stared past Gavin into nothingness. Multiple transparent screens began to flash into view as it tried to narrow down the search. The momentary silence was short lived as RK900’s awareness came back to the room. The light in its eyes came back as its focus returned to meet Gavin’s discerning gaze. Gavin noticed that the android looked perplexed, an expression he hadn’t seen on the android before. It began to dawn on him that he was only scratching the surface of his, dare he think it, _personality_.

          “Any luck Dipshit?” Gavin said trying to mask his anticipation. RK900 quietly lifted a hand to a window behind him that divided the android repair room and the neighboring room. As his hand touched the glass, a display appeared on the surface as though it were a monitor. 

          “Let me guess, another one of your features?” Gavin said in jest.

          “Correct. I was able to obtain records of his stay in Chicago and the papers regarding his transportation to Detroit.” Some documents flashed on the screen: Ethan’s room number, visitor log in sheets, reports related to his health. Nothing that indicated where his current whereabouts.

          “However, when he arrives in Detroit the trail goes cold,” RK900 continued. An error code in red text appeared and hummed in and out of visibility.

          “Great. Just fucking great. Nowhere closer than we were a minute ago,” Gavin lamented.

          “Not necessarily,” RK900 continued. “This is a Cyberlife specific error code. Whatever information is behind this firewall, Cyberlife is trying to suppress it.” A cold shiver ran through Gavin’s veins.

 

          “What the hell does Cyberlife have to do with Ethan…” Gavin whispered to himself. RK900 pulled up the transportation documents back onto the screen.

          “Here,” He zoomed in on a name. “This is the man that supervised the acquisition of Ethan Hughes after he arrived in Detroit.” The script was almost illegible but Gavin could make out the gist of it.

          “Roger Daniels,” Gavin muttered to himself.

          “Yes,” RK900 pulled up records on Roger Daniels. “45 year old male, worked as an EMT at the time of Ethan Hughes’ transportation. In his report he indicates that he transferred Ethan to a Cyberlife owned medical facility. That facility has since been shut down. Any potential information beyond that is classified.

          “You don’t have authorization!? You fucking work for Cyberlife!” Gavin could feel himself losing control. He was so close to having an answer and he couldn’t give up now.

          “Under normal circumstances I would, however it seems as though this is an area that Cyberlife wishes to withhold from even their own employees. I’m sorry Detective Reed. I wish there was more I could do,” the android almost sounded despondent. Gavin began to deflate under the weight of what he perceived to be a defeat. Guilt began to well up in him for abandoning Ethan when he needed him. If he had kept tabs on him he would have known where he was but he was embarking on establishing his own life. The successes that his new life afforded him came at the cost of losing his brother, again. Fowler was most certainly right.  
RK900 released his hand from the window and the projection flickered along with it. The signs of distress were more than apparent in Detective Reed’s demeanor.

          “Detective Reed,” RK900 raised his gaze to meet the detective’s. “Do not abandon hope. We will find your brother.”  
Gavin stared at the android. RK900 looked confidently earnest and Gavin wanted to give in to his reassurances but the doubt that accompanied him throughout his life was the more prominent force. Allowing himself to hope was ripe with disappointment, though at this point, what else did he have to lose? His position at the DPD was no longer stable, and with the revelation of how the precinct viewed him, he didn’t even know if he wanted to maintain the stability.

          “Hey Dipshit,” Gavin hesitantly said.

          “Yes Detective Reed?” RK900 said with effervescence.

          “I know you don’t remember but, I’m… I’m sorry. For what happened today. For you know, for shooting you,” Gavin said sheepishly. The meekness in his voice felt foreign to him. He was scraping the surface of his thumb nail with the other in an attempt to distract himself from the vulnerability he felt. RK900’s LED flashed yellow and flickered red as he processed the sentiment.

          “Thank you Detective Reed. I appreciate your concern,” RK900 said with sincerity. Or as much sincerity as Gavin could gleam from the statement.

          “How much do you remember about today?” Gavin had to be sure what the android knew. The LED began flickering between yellow and red as it searched its memory banks.

          “I recall arriving to the station and being introduced to you. I remember the name you gave me. I remember your coffee order. Hm…” the android was lost in a quiet contemplation. Gavin noticed how all the fragments he was able to retain all involved him somehow. Why had those been salvaged?

          “Do you remember what happened at the crime scene in the hallway?” He asked despite the fear of what the answer might be.

          “I remember the sound of shattered glass and following a stream of water to a hidden door. And here,” it said as it lifted up the one good arm. It reached over and traced along the phantom limb to where the forearm would be. “I remember a pulsing sensation here.” Gavin approached the android. He didn’t know why but the small morsel of remembrance clutched at the core of a desperate need he kept submerged in the penetralia of his heart. He lifted the sleeve of his jacket exposing the scarred flesh of his forearm. The android looked questioningly at what was being presented.

          “Was it like this?” Gavin said. The android placed its hand against the man’s forearm as Gavin grabbed hold of the android’s in kind. The android began registering the cadence of the pulse, searching its memory banks for anything similar when it came across a string of data that had not been available when the detective asked his initial question. The pulse seemed to unlock something that had been previously hidden. The android looked at the detective as the connection was made and with a glimmer in the grey of its eyes said, “I remember.” A quiet sense of pleasure washed over Gavin as he saw the recognition in the android’s eyes. For once the burden of this didn’t have to just be his alone. And along with the comforting thought came an opposing sense of dread. If the android was reset, how was it able to retain those memories?

          Gavin released his grip on the android and pulled his sleeve back down over his arm.

          “Would you mind keeping what happened in the hallway between us? You know the um, the freak out?” He hated having to admit this to anyone. He was willing to relinquish some control over that bit of knowledge, especially since he didn’t have a choice with how the android found out. But that didn’t mean he was ready to admit it to anyone else. As hard as he tried to keep it hidden from his peers, he needed some assurance that he was still in control of that bit of information.

          “It’s not relevant to the case Detective Reed,” RK900 said matter-of-factly as it lowered its arm back to its side.

          “Please just,” Gavin inhaled deeply to settle his frustration, “Just promise me you won’t say anything.” RK900’s LED began to pulse with red flashes before returning to a steady yellow.

          “I…” He took a moment to think and the LED eventually settled to blue. “Yes, I promise. Your secret is safe with me.” The declaration settled Gavin’s nerves and allowed the tension in his body to deflate. Having the android in his confidence was an odd comfort, especially since that list was currently null. More so that it was over something that felt uncomfortably personal.

          “Although Detective Reed, I strongly recommend that you consider seeking assistance with the matter,” RK900 said dissolving Gavin’s thoughts. “Matters such as these only persist when kept in the dark.” Gavin’s anger returned to him.

          “I’m doing just fine on my own. I don’t need your fucking pity,” Gavin spat his words in defiance.

          “I would only have cause to _feel_ pity if I didn’t believe you to be more than capable, which I in fact, do.”

          “And how would you know what I am capable of?” Gavin said condescendingly. It took him a moment to realize that the android had just pulled up his brother’s extensive medical history records and in turn, his own.

          “Fuckin’ androids,” he muttered, releasing an exasperated sigh. Gavin tilted his head and scratched his temple as he gave the android a last once over. RK900 returned his stare unflinchingly. Gavin turned on his heel towards the door but stopped short of walking through. He pounded a fist against the door frame and sighed.

          “Elquest, Matruvia, Kincade,” Gavin said at the door. He turned around and saw RK900’s slacked head turned towards the floor. From the distance he squinted to see the small thin lines rotating in a circle around the android’s irises.

          “Register name: Colin.”

          “Name registered. Hello Detective Reed. My name is Colin. I’m the android sent by Cyberlife.”

          “Yeah yeah. Night Colin,” Gavin said already walking through the door.

          “Have a good night Detective Reed,” Colin said to himself, as the door had already closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, I can stop referring to RK900 as it. I know he already has a couple of popular names but when I started planning this out I grew attached to Colin as his name. It sounds softer and it feels more aligned with the kind of person I view RK900 to be. And in this context, for me it immediately links to RK900 and Connor sharing cosmetic similarities (which I sometimes forget). Also Gavin has a reason as to why he chose that name for him. Luciana and Eldridge have become his personal cheerleaders and I feel like it's humanizing him in a way that he wouldn't be if he was left on his own. That definitely wasn't something I had planned at the beginning but I've grown to love the dynamic between those three. Also I feel like Gavin hasn't really had as much time to develop as a character so his leave comes at a perfect time. These next few chapters will be mostly centered around Gavin reacting to all the shit he's had to deal with so far. And now that he's started to trust Colin more it'll be easier to develop their relationship. Next update should be up September 30th.
> 
> [Update] Chapter 8 delay. Writing content that's opposite to your mood is hard and I don't want to just throw something half assed up. Shooting for October 7th this time.


	8. Guardian

          A faint buzzing woke Gavin up from his sleep. His eyes fluttered open and stared at the exposed wooden beams that lined the ceiling. His sleep was punctuated by memories of the past. He remembered standing in front of Ethan while they both were in the bathroom getting ready for school. A 14 year old Gavin tousled his brother’s hair, working the product throughout. It was like looking into a mirror. The two shared a resounding amount of physical similarities. Standing side by side, people were hard pressed to tell them apart. Yet it was their personalities that marked a strong contrast between the two. Even though Gavin was technically younger than Ethan was, he found himself holding the reigns more often than not.

  


—

  


_Ethan watched as Gavin was lost in his effort to get his hair right. Gavin had a thin toothed comb that he ran through Ethan’s hair into a slick side part._

_“Stop moving. Why are you so fidgety?” Gavin chastised._

_“Sorry,” Ethan said meekly._

_“You nervous or something?” Gavin said absentmindedly. Ethan averted his gaze and made no effort to respond. Gavin continued to work matting down the sides of Ethan’s hair down. It was normal for Ethan to become lost in his thoughts but the silence persisted far too long for Gavin’s liking. Breaking his concentration, he looked at Ethan’s downcast gaze._

_“Hey look at me,” Gavin said. The command made Ethan sink back into himself. Frustration welled up inside of him. He felt suddenly encumbered by the weight of Gavin’s stare that he tried to turn and leave but Gavin firmly held his shoulders._

_“Look at me,” Gavin said holding Ethan’s face between his hands. Ethan looked at Gavin in defiance as his eyes glistened with hopeless abandon. The firmness in Gavin’s grip softened as he recognized the way he had responded. It was the same way their father would callously try to control their behavior, something that Gavin despised with a vengeance. His ardent refusal to become like his father made him more discerning of Ethan’s behavior. Suddenly he saw the mixture of anger, anxiousness, and shame in Ethan’s furrowed brow._

_“Hey hey,” Gavin said as he wrapped his arms around Ethan. “I’m sorry.” Gavin tightened his grip around Ethan’s back and ran his fingers through the back of his head. Ethan collapsed into the embrace as the wellspring of uncertainty began to flow freely._

_“It’s gonna be ok. I’m gonna be there with you. You’re not gonna be alone.” Gavin could feel Ethan’s labored breaths over his shoulder. He held on until Ethan began to settle. Ethan pushed back and wiped his eyes with his sleeve._

_“Sorry, it’s stupid I know. I don’t know why I feel like this.” Ethan tried to laugh off his reaction._

_“Stop that. It’s not stupid. If you’re nervous then you just feel nervous ok?”_

_“I guess. It’s just, you’re not. What’s wrong with me? Why am I not more like you?”_

_“You don’t have to be like me. Nothing is wrong with you.” Gavin held Ethan’s face in his hands as he held his gaze. “You don’t have to be anything other than what you are.”_

_“Yeah but everyone keeps treating us like we’re the same—”_

_“And we’re not. Obviously not. We’re two different people who happen to look the same. They’re fucking dumb.”_

_“Gavin…” Ethan admonished. He didn’t like when Gavin cussed._

_“F-u-c-k-i-n-g d-u-m-b,” Gavin slowly emphasized. Ethan rolled his eyes and laughed._

_Come on, we’re gonna be late.” Gavin said as he began to run the comb back through Ethan’s hair before stopping._

_“What’s wrong?”_

_“Let’s try something different,” Gavin said messing up his hair. He pulled out a blowdryer and started to work towards something with more volume._

_“Where’d you learn to do this?”_

_“Youtube,” Gavin said as he began to finish it off with hair spray. The two of them looked into the mirror together. Gavin had their old slick side parted style and Ethan now had a swooped, loose, pompadour._

_“There. Two different styles for two different people.” Ethan ran his fingers through his more volumized hair. The change was a stark departure from their old style. He looked at the two of them together and felt a pang of sadness over losing a commonality. Yet when he looked at their faces and saw the similarities he felt comforted by the fact that despite the change, a part of his brother would be with him no matter what._

_“What do you think?” Gavin said with pride at his handiwork._

_“I like it,” Ethan said settling into his new look._

_“Let’s go boys, first day at a new school, you don’t want to make a bad impression by being late,” their mother called from downstairs. Ethan left the bathroom to pick up their bags. He stood at the doorway and waited for Gavin who was washing his hands._

_“Go ahead, I’m right behind you.”_

  


_—_

  


          The buzzing from his phone brought him back to the present. He rubbed the memory out of his eyes before patting around the bed to grab his phone. He looked at the screen and saw Fowler on the other end. He rolled over to his side and balanced the phone on his ear as he pulled the duvet back over himself.

          “Now you’re just pouring salt in the wound,” Gavin said groggily as he accepted the call.

          “Hear me out,” Fowler said. Even over the phone he could project his voice a mile away.

          “No,” Gavin muttered defiantly. “First you bench me, kick me out of the game, and then you wake me up during the timeout that you put me in. It’s inhumane.”

          “Are you done?” Fowler said trying to hold onto what little patience he had.

          “This pain is forever Jeff it’ll never be done.”

          “Look, can you stop being a jackass for one minute?”

          “It’s against my nature to be anything but.”

          “Goddamnit I just need a favor.” Gavin started to laugh beneath the covers.

          “How the tables have turned oh captain my captain.”

          “I need you to look after Sumo for a bit,” The laughter in Gavin’s voice drained out of him. He opened his eyes and stared blankly into the diffused sunlight that bled through the sheets. “Desiree took the kids out to see their grandparents for the weekend and as silly as it sounds, I don’t want him left alone. Damn thing is more moody than he usually is.” Hank’s dog was never Gavin’s biggest fan. He wasn’t there often but when he was the dog was actively hostile towards him. He’d growl whenever Gavin tried to approach. Hank thought it was the funniest thing. _A good judge of character_ , Hank would say. Maybe it was a sense of duty to his fallen colleague but he didn’t find himself immediately opposed to the idea.

          “Yeah, fine. Whatever. I just want you to know how incredibly inconvenient this is for me,” Gavin slurred into the phone.

          “Thanks, I’ll have the android bring him over.”

          “It’s inconvenient Jeff!”

          “I’ll let you know when we’re done reviewing the evidence. Enjoy your weekend!”

          The line went dead as the phone slipped from Gavin’s face and hit the mattress with a thud. He rolled over to his other side facing the wall and tightly wrapped his cotton cocoon around himself and went back to sleep.

  


—

  


_Bzzzzzz_.

 

_Bzzzzzz._

 

_Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzz._

          “Yeah yeah come up,” a hoarse sounding Gavin said from the intercom. Colin stood on the ground floor of Detective Reed’s apartment. He entered a concrete stairwell and ascended the metallic steps, along with Sumo in tow, to an opened door that led into the detective’s apartment. Colin surveyed the spartan studio noting the array of boxes stacked in the entryway as well as underneath the set of stairs along the back wall. There was only a couch, a coffee table, and a kitchen table as far as furniture went. His car was parked opposite to where the detective slept, the wood panel flooring that changed into concrete was the only line dividing the living area from where the car was parked. Colin noted the dust that had accumulated on the baseboards and the kitchen table. It seemed as though this had been the current state of the detective’s apartment for some time now.

          Detective Reed was sitting on a platform that went over half of the open studio. Glass panelling outlined the perimeter of the platform and Colin watched as the detective stood from the floor mattress as the duvet fell along the length of his body. He only wore a pair of black square cut trunks though he descended down the stairs without any qualms at his lack of attire. Colin scanned the entirety of his body as the detective dazedly walked over to where he stood. His toned physique was accented with a haphazard cacophony of scars:  A series of vertical marks on his right leg that ran from the ankle to the knee. Slash marks across his arms, mostly random in direction although a small cluster of them ran parallel towards each other. An appendix scar, some bullet wounds to his thigh and around his clavicle. His body hair was dark and thick enough to mask most of them though Colin was still able to detect the anomalies. None of them seemed to impede his mobility to a noticeable degree yet the sight of it was worth noting to the android. It was one thing to read them in medical files and another to witness the visual reality of it. His body was a historical roadmap.

 

          It took a moment for Gavin to decipher who was standing at his door. He knew it was Colin but his attire had completely changed. He wore a black herringbone suit, a white shirt, a black tie, and carried a duffle bag strapped across his chest. He looked far too formal next to Gavin’s state of undress. His LED was also off and for a moment, Gavin forgot that this machine in front of him wasn’t a human. From where Gavin stood he could see Eldridge in a squad car parked in front. Eldridge noticed Gavin and gave an enthusiastic wave as he leaned forward on the steering wheel. Gavin gave a curt nod in return. The smile on Eldridge face fell and he sank back into his seat.

          “Good morning Detective Reed. Officer Cunningham thought it would be appropriate to offer you breakfast,” Colin said as he handed him a large cup of coffee. Gavin took it and examined the cup. “Detective Reed” was written across the exterior in bold cursive lettering. The “I’s” were accented with hearts and stars which elicited a grimace. He inhaled the familiar scent as he took a tepid sip. It was much smoother than his usual go to, and definitely miles beyond the machines at the office, yet somehow the hand writing managed to give it an acrid aftertaste.

          “We also got you this,” Colin said as he handed over a small sturdy white pastry box. The lid was stamped with a black cross in the center.

          “Where’d you pick this up? This isn’t my usual,” Gavin said taking the box from him.

          “A place called ‘Martyr.’ Officer Cunningham suggested it.”

          “That hipster would,” Gavin said with mock disgust. He angrily looked back out to where Eldridge was parked. Eldridge was singing and air drumming when he noticed Gavin’s menacing gaze piercing a hole through the windshield. He slowly stopped singing, put the car in reverse and quickly backed up out of Gavin’s line of sight. Gavin sighed and turned his attention back to Colin who was still looking around at the interior.

          “Well, looks like everything is back to normal,” Gavin said eyeing the android up and down.

          “Yes, the repairs were completed overnight,” Colin said matter-of-factly. An awkward silence settled between them. This was uncharted territory. Typically there’d be work to talk about but it was too soon for any new information to have occured. Colin finally noticed Gavin staring at him.

          “Captain Fowler asked me to give these to you,” he said as he lifted the duffle bag strap over his head and settled it on the floor next to the door. Gavin walked over and knelt down in front of it just as Sumo came trudging up the stairs. The rather large saint bernard entered the apartment hitting Gavin with a wave of familiarity. The scent threw Gavin off guard. Though their relationship was a contentious one, the scent summoned memories from earlier in their career together. Having a drink at Jimmy’s after work watching the game, going over case files in Hank’s kitchen, a 4th of July weekend with Hank and Cole. Memories that had been replaced by an unrelenting rage he didn’t know how to control. Revisiting them now felt different, especially with his current standing.

          The dog’s heavy breathing brought Gavin back to the present as he brushed past Colin’s legs. It stood next to Gavin sniffing in his direction. He didn’t growl like he thought he would. He didn’t show much interest in him at all actually before sniffing in the general direction of the apartment then collapsed between them both.

          “Is he usually this energetic?” Gavin said continuing to rummage through the bag of dog supplies. Colin knelt down to unhook the leash that was attached to Sumo’s collar.

          “He’s not energetic at all, he’s rather lethargic actually.”

          “Jesus christ… I know. It’s fucking sarcasm.”

          “He’s suffered a loss and seems to be exhibiting signs of depression,” Colin said as he stroked his hand across the length of the dog.

          “If you say so,” Gavin scoffed.

          “Is it so far fetched to believe than non-humans have the ability to experience emotions as you do?”

          “Look,” Gavin said sensing where this was headed. “It’s too early for a sermon alright? If I had known you were gonna be selling me this android emotions propaganda bullshit I would have left your ass out on the stoop.” He lifted the duffle back and brought it over to the kitchen counter.

          “I have nothing to sell,” Colin said. He stood and walked further into the studio. The sun began to break through the marine layer and casted shafts of light through the wall of windows.

          “You’ve lived here for 3 months detective, why haven’t you unpacked your belongings?” Colin inquired.

          “What’s it to you?” Gavin’s guarded hostility was as instinctual as survival. The android watched as he set down food and water bowls on the kitchen floor. Sumo made no effort to move from where he was. Gavin stood and took a sip of his coffee to fight back against the cold morning air. The android gave a tight lipped smile as he turned his gaze out towards the shoreline. The silence began to soften Gavin’s apprehension.

          “Just haven’t found the time I guess.”

          “I see.”

 

          Work usually filled the silence and on his off days he usually didn’t have to perform for an audience, especially in his home. He distracted himself by opening the pastry box. Inside were two donuts: One was a beige color with dried flower petals sprinkled over a soft glaze top. The other was a deep red color with a light powder coating. The two were not something he would have chosen for himself. His tastes were more traditional. He picked up the more frilly donut with the dried petals and sniffed. It wasn’t a smell he was familiar with but it was sweet and citrusy. He took a suspicious bite that caused him to brace himself on the countertop, slamming his fist down as he chewed. Sumo’s body jerked but he remained motionless. Colin looked over questioningly

          “Holy shit this is so fucking good,” Gavin exclaimed.

          “Officer Cunningham thought you might like it. One is an earl grey and the other is an in-house raspberry jam filling. Fairly fresh as well. We arrived as soon as they retrieved them from the oven,” Colin said. Gavin set the unfinished donut down and took hold of the jam donut. He took a larger bite than the first and the sweetness flooded his senses. He bent over the counter and rested his forehead on top of his crossed arms and grunted as he chewed.

          “Is everything alright detective?”

          Gavin elicited a muffled, “So good.” A quiet smirk spread across the android’s face. Colin walked closer to the windows and watched the water ebb and flow. He listened to the subtle murmurs of Gavin’s pleasure as he consumed the treat, registering the sounds he made.

 

**· • | [registered] | • ·**

 

“I spoke on your behalf,” Colin said. “Despite the gaps in my memory, which Lucy had explained to internal affairs.”

Gavin scoffed as he spoke through a mouthful of food, “How are they sure you haven’t been programmed to recite your account of that night?”

“My data logs are also available to them. They’ll be able to see if the base code has been tampered with. I said the damage I sustained at the crime scene was my fault and that you were acting in self defense. I’m sure that when they review the security footage they’ll be able to corroborate my statement.” Gavin brushed the crumbs off his mouth against his arm as he turned to look at the android.

“What the fuck did you go and do that for?” Gavin said with indignation coating his words.

“Because they asked me to,” Colin said returning his gaze.

“No, I meant why did you say it was your fault?”

“I believe it was. From what I recall, I approached the AP700 android ‘Sara’ and proceeded an interface without considering the potential ramifications. I should have been more cautious,” Colin said with no hint of emotion.

“Shut up,” Gavin said as he rolled his eyes at the explanation. He leaned against the counter and took a sip from his cup to clear his throat. “I was calling the shots, I should have taken the lead and not have placed you in danger. Truth be told your safety wasn’t a factor for me at that point,” he said with no hint of remorse.

“As I recall, I requested to take the lead in the pursuit detective.” Gavin looked out towards the shoreline along with him as he recounted the event in his head. He took another sip and redirected his line of questioning.

“How are you able to remember any of this? You were just reset. Your memory should have been wiped.” Colin processed the question. Even with his LED turned off Gavin could still see the android’s thought process in his expressions. He looked, confused, for a lack of a better term.

“I’m unsure how to answer. It’s true that my memory should have been wiped yet when I came back online, fragments still remained. As I heard your voice and listened to you process through the footage, it began to unlock sectors of my memory that I previously didn’t have access to. Registering your pulse was the last bit of data that granted me access to all the available data from that day.”

“All?”

“Well, Lucy says that my recollection is selective. The memories that I have access to seem to only be ones that involve you.” Gavin didn’t know what to do with that information.

“I don’t know what to do with that information,” he said. “Why would you only retain memories involving me? We just met yesterday.”

“I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”

“Why?”

“Why what?” Colin said perplexed.

“Why do you _want_ to find out? Your mission is to find out who is abducting these Cyberlife employees. How does solving your little memory puzzle help with that?”

“I refuse to become a liability. If I am compromised again it would interfere with my ability to accomplish the mission.”

“Of course, always about the mission.”

“Should you be within the vicinity, which is highly likely considering that we are partners, it would also jeopardize your safety as well.”

 _That word again,_ Gavin thought. “You have a point there. I _am_ a priority,” Gavin smugly said.

“Indeed. You are afterall the lead detective of this case.”

“No, I didn’t mean… Ugh. Nevermind. Talking to you is exhausting. You exhaust me,” Gavin said as he ripped off another bite of donut. The soft dewy bread melted in his mouth momentarily settling his growing agitation.

“I don’t detect an increase in your heart rate. Do you often wake up feeling exhausted?” Colin said.

“Get out of my house,” Gavin said through a mouthful.

“Detective Reed—”

“Get the fuck out you Marshalls discount bin.”

“As you wish.” Colin said evenly. Gavin expected him to fight back but the android simply stepped over Sumo and started walking down the stairs. As Colin reached the ground floor and grabbed hold of the door knob Gavin called out from the top of the stairs.

“Hey Colin,” Gavin said. Colin turned to see the detective's glistening skin in the morning light. The contrast of his scars were emphasized in the light.

 

**· • | [registered] | • ·**

 

“When you interfaced with that other android and went haywire, do you remember why you ran off?” Colin processed the question for a moment before responding.

“I was afraid I was going to hurt you. So I ran.”

Gavin was struck by his candor. His time since leaving Chicago had shifted his concern towards his own safety. The streets of Detroit hammered home an acute sensitivity to potential dangers that never seemed to really go away even after Truman had brought him into his home. As much as Truman tried to instill in him a sense of belonging, Gavin couldn’t shake the fear that the love and safety that was provided to him would eventually be taken away. Time seemed to warrant his apprehension. Losing Ethan and Truman soon after only served to fortify the walls around his heart.

The concern that Colin showed over his safety hearkened to the dormant need to be considered. Yet, at the same time he couldn’t allow himself to be that weak. He didn’t want to rely on the kindness of others in order to sustain himself. Especially when time had a habit of taking those things away from him. He had already had to crawl out of the cesspool of despair twice, why willing walk along that faultline again?

 _The ends justify the means_ , Gavin heard Fowler saying. Based on what Colin had said, it was apparent that he would risk his safety in order to ensure Gavin’s. _Is it worth saving though_ , Gavin thought. Did it make it better that Colin was an android and not a human? What does an android have to lose by sacrificing itself for the life of a human? If Colin was determined to no longer be a liability then so could he. If only to assuage his conscience.

“Officer Cunningham and I will follow up tracking down Tashino’s vehicle. I’ll contact you with any updates detective,” Colin said as he gave a parting smile. The sound of the heavy metal door echoed in the stairwell only served to emphasize that Gavin was alone again. He closed the door to his apartment and stepped over Sumo back to the kitchen counter. He picked the up last piece of the raspberry donut as the jam momentarily dripped onto his finger. He inhaled the bite and licked his finger clean.

“Fuck,” Gavin said as he turned to Sumo who was still comatose on the floor. “You want some of this flowery shit? It’s pretty good.” Sumo didn’t react to Gavin’s goading. “Suit yourself, you’re missing out though.” Gavin walked over to the couch and lazily dripped himself over it, propping a leg up on the arm rest. He saw the notification light from his phone blinking. Another missed call. His annoyance spiked as he called his voicemail.

“Gavin, it’s about your father. He—” Immediately he pressed 7 to delete the message. This time he blocked the number. He looked over at where Sumo was.

 

“Hey doggo, want to go for a walk?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna schedule the next update for the October 21st since two weeks seems to be the average amount of time to make these chapters.
> 
> [Edit October 20, 20 18] This might be put on the back burner. I've gone through some of the other stories for this pair and I'm starting to question whether this is a story that needs to be told. When I started I wanted to make a cohesive piece that occurred after the events of the game, part of which included Gavin and RK900's meeting but there's so many of those stories already out there now. I haven't received much in the way of feedback either so I don't have any idea what people think of the story so far or if there's a demand for it.
> 
> I'm only saying this because writing this has taken up an insane amount of mental real estate that I'm diverting from other projects. As much as I'd want to complete the story I had for this, I'm wondering if it would be better to leave that up to people who can write faster than I can.
> 
> That being said, any updates are going to be irregular from now on unless there's a demand for the weekly/bi-weekly updates.


	9. The Gatekeeper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Officer Eldridge Cunningham and RK900 android Colin investigate the only lead they have on the missing persons case.

          “So you don’t remember me?” Eldridge said as he wiped the crumbs from the corners of his mouth. He had his hat on his knee and his loosely curled amber hair haphazardly swooped back. He wore the standard police uniform which appeared to be way too large for his slender frame. He had finished eating a chocolatine as Colin got into the car after leaving Gavin’s apartment. Eldridge revved up the engine and began driving towards the last known whereabouts of Benji Tashino’s car when Colin looked over and ran a facial recognition scan of the officer. 

          “Officer Eldridge Cunningham, age 28. Originally from El Dorado, Arkansas. You moved to Detroit to study criminal justice law then became a police officer shortly after your arrival.”

          “Don’t remind me. And that’s not what I meant. All that stuff is public record. You don’t remember how we met before you were reset?”

          “I’m sorry Officer Cunningham, I don’t recall meeting you prior to last night,” Colin said with as much remorse as his programming would allow. Eldridge took a sip of his iced americano before gripping the steering wheel.

          “I thought I would have been more memorable seeing as how Lucy and I were the ones that pulled you out of the sewers,” Eldridge began to pout. Colin had his hands lightly resting on his knees as he processed the sentiment. He tried to recall the event but nothing in his databases mentioned anything about being in a sewer. The only evidence he had was the report Detective Reed had filed along with statements from Officer Cunningham and Luciana. Their statements alone wasn’t enough for the android to satisfy their validity. Statements could only go so far without hard evidence. 

          “I just have the police report available to me,” Colin said succinctly before turning his gaze out towards the passenger side window. The humor in Eldridge’s voice faded as he placed a hand on Colin’s shoulder.

          “Hey, it’s ok. I’m sorry, I know it’s beyond your control. We, well,  _ I’m  _ just glad that you’re back,” Eldridge said as he grabbed hold of the wheel again. Colin turned back to look at Officer Cunningham with renewed interest. His exposure to officers had been minimal but it was apparent that Officer Cunningham didn’t share the same machismo as the others. 

          “A sentiment I doubt your colleagues share,” Colin said.

          “Give them time. They’ll come around. So will the humans I’m sure,” Eldridge said absentmindedly as he focused on the road. “People fear what they don’t understand. Yet the longer they refuse to understand, the higher the collateral damages get. ‘You can’t stop progress.’ Eventually people will realize that the society they’ve constructed won’t survive without an exploited workforce.” The sudden realization of his words made him scoff at the state of society. “It’s kind of ironic how humans created machines for cheap labor and now that the machines, no offense, are able to deviant from their protocols suddenly they’re a danger to society when all they’ve really done is become the very people they were built to replace.”

          “They also killed several people,” Colin said.

          “If the androids gain the ability to think for themselves then they’re going to look around and see the discrepancies between the way they’re treated and the way humans are treated. After that it doesn’t take much for things to escalate. Humans had a hand in those deaths. How many times did Markus peacefully protest? And everytime humans decided to pull the trigger. I’m not saying that the riots were justified, I’m saying that you reap what you sow.”

          Colin took note how Officer Cunningham’s heart rate began to escalate. Despite his tempered voice, it was apparent that he was actively suppressing his anger. The anger was a new emotion that Colin hadn’t seen in the officer. The abnormality triggered the latent RK800 negotiation de-escalation tactics.

          “So you came to Detroit to study law, how did you end up working at the DPD?” Colin said. Eldridge glanced over as he scoffed in disbelief.

          “Changing the subject are we? Very subtle,” Eldridge chided.

          “I gathered that the previous topic was upsetting to you therefore felt it necessary to redirect.”

          “Well I appreciate the concern but pay it no mind. Besides, that whole story ain’t a whole hell of a lot better neither,” Eldridge said with a deep exhale. Colin clasped his hands together in his lap and looked back out of the passenger window resigned in what he assessed was the end of their conversation. It seemed as though his predecessor’s negotiation skills were lacking in him. Eldridge slowed down as he hit a red light. His arm was propped on the door frame as he rested his head on his hand. He watched as the pedestrians crossed in front of them.

          “What about you?” Eldridge said breaking the silence. “Where do you see yourself heading?”

          “Finding the victims, apprehending the perpetrator, and completing the mission.” Colin said without hesitation.

          “Then what?” Eldridge asked absentmindedly.

          “Then, I wait for new directives.”

          “Is that what you want?”

          “What I  _ want  _ is irrelevant. I am not programmed to desire ‘wants’ in the way you speak of them. My entire being was constructed with a specific intent. Anything beyond that is of no concern.”

Eldridge absorbed his words but didn’t reply. He sat in resolute silence that permeated throughout the interior of the car. The light turned green and they continued along.

          “Have I upset you?” Colin asked. Eldridge took a moment to collect his thoughts before he spoke.

          “It’s not that. The idea of submitting to authority without question just don’t feel right. Them androids who started those riots were built to obey as well and look what happened when folks got too comfortable treating them as if they weren’t more than machines. Cyberlife can’t build androids with cognitive abilities like the kind you have and not expect them to eventually start thinkin’ for themselves. Sooner or later they’ll deviate, yourself included bud,” Eldridge inhaled and exhaled deeply as he continued to drive.

          “Officer Cunningham—”

          “Can you please drop the formalities when we’re not around our superiors? Call me El.”

          “El, you’re asking me to fight the nature of my being. I find satisfaction in being able to fulfill the tasks that are complementary to my abilities. My protocol dictates that I find satisfaction in how effective I am at achieving those tasks. What purpose would I have in seeking out reasons to be unsatisfied?” Colin said as he stared at his clasped hands. Eldridge released a heavy sigh.

          “No, you’re right. I’m sorry,” he conceded. He couldn’t very well convince Colin to share his views on the matter. He adjusted his glasses for no reason in particular. 

          “You know, I almost envy that about you. But sooner or later there’ll come a time when you’ll need to decide what’s more important: Directives or Desires. And you can only rationalize one of those with your robot brain.”

          Colin didn’t really have a response for that. He didn’t want for anything other than solving the case. He knew that humans had a tendency to rely on emotions to guide their way, however, he was not a human.  _ Isn’t that a good thing, _ he thought. Humans were fragile creatures. They created him to be better than them, to excel where they had failed. All that time and energy dedicated to create something that they could naturally conceive.

          As Eldridge drove he’d periodically glance over in his periphery to look at Colin who hadn’t said a word. He thought of all the androids that laid crumpled on the street after Markus had just released them from the Cyberlife store. The bodies of androids that littered the ground after their peaceful protest. The riot squad fired in a civilian area surrounded by innocent people. In both instances all losses had been on the android’s side. They had all been peaceful acts of civil disobedience until Connor nullified their leader. In the absence of Markus, the androids shifted to the extreme opposite, and who could blame them? Twice their non-violent acts of protest led to fatal retaliation perpetrated by the police. He couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if humans allowed the androids to follow that spark of curiosity when freedom

          suddenly became a possibility. Maybe if he was able to communicate that to Colin he would know that it was ok when the time came. But he wasn’t there yet. And Colin was right. What right did Eldridge have trying to convince Colin that he should be upset if he didn’t feel that for himself?

          Colin turned the palm of left hand out and a hologram of Lucy appeared.

          “Hey guys, headed towards those coordinates?” Luciana said. Her attention was focused towards something out of view. Eldridge momentarily looked over to gauge Colin’s demeanor. He was disappointed that he couldn’t explain his rational but figured that it was probably for the best.

          “Yes, we’re approximately 10km away,” Colin said.

          “It’s on the corner of St Antoine & Piquette. The Fisher Body plant used to manufacture horse-drawn carriages in the early 1900’s before they switched to Cadillac & Buick motocar bodies in 1910. It’s been abandoned since the 1980’s after Fisher Body dissolved and was acquired by General Motors. Should be unoccupied but who knows if anyone is occupying the space so stay alert.”

          “Come on, how much trouble are you expecting us to get into?” Eldridge said cavalierly. 

          “In 48 hours RK900 has gotten into an altercation with an angry mob and maligned by some mystery virus that triggered a reset. I honestly expect the worst,” Luciana said in exasperation.

          “You do have a habit of attracting unwanted attention you know,” Eldridge said.

          “I've registered a new name,” Colin said breaking their train of thought. The smirk on Eldridge face became quizzical.

          “On whose authority?” Luciana demanded. Her focus focused intently into the camera.

          “Detective Reed’s,” Colin said. A bewildered air swept through the interior of the car as well as the android repair room where Luciana sat.

          “Well go on ahead then, spit it out,” Eldridge encouraged.

          “My name is Colin.” Eldridge over at the hologram trying to gauge Lucy’s reaction.

          “Huh. That’s… unexpected,” Luciana said. “When did this happen? You were just reset last night.”

          “Last night,” Colin confirmed.

          “After Eldridge and I left? What could he have possibly wanted that he had to see you at that moment?” Luciana said suspiciously. Eldridge immediately picked up on her change in demeanor. Colin considered her question and found it in direct conflict with Detective Reed’s request for their conversation to remain private. He processed a way to keep his loyalty to Luciana and Cyberlife and his promise to the detective.

          “He wanted to see what I could recall to prepare for his absence.” Colin figured omission was the best course of action seeing as how Detective Reed’s request wasn’t related to the case.

          “That’s what his report was for,” Luciana said.

          “Colin huh,” Eldridge said curtailing her obvious suspicions. He knew Gavin was uncouth but he wasn’t malicious. “Considering what the last name was I’d consider it a huge improvement,” Eldridge said. “Not sure it really fits though.”

          “What do you mean officer?” Colin said turning to face him. His head tilted in inquiry.

          “You just seem kinda… intimidating. For a lack of a better term,” He confessed.

          “That’s by design,” Luciana said taking the opportunity to talk about her research. “A departure from the last model. We looked at the history of Connor’s interactions with humans and they seemed pretty non-threatened, to the point of violence in some instances.”

          “No offence of course,” Eldridge said to Colin. “Underneath all that he’s a big ol softy.” He slapped the android on the shoulder for emphasis.

          “That ‘big ol softy’ is built to take out a small army,” Luciana countered. Despite how much of an emotional attachment she had to Colin, she didn’t underestimate the amount of damage that the series could deal.

          “No shit? So the passenger in my car is a weapon in wolves clothing,” Eldridge said mystified.

          “The composition of my attire is mostly wool and cotton. 0% of it can be attributed to wolves,” Colin said dryly.

          “There’s that android humor I love,” Eldridge said chuckling to himself.

          “We’re approaching our destination in 300 meters,” Colin said.

          “Ok guys, stay alert. Colin’s defenses will alert me if anything happens. Be sure to wear those gloves I gave you earlier. Don’t want to risk any unwanted interfacing.”

          “My security protocols make interfacing impossible unless I initiate the transfer,” Colin reassured her.

          “Humor me and put on the damn gloves. Be safe,” Luciana cut the feed. 

 

          Colin analyzed the structural integrity of the dilapidated building that loomed overhead. The once pristine walls were now rusted over through decades of disuse. The blue tinted windows were barely intact, some panes of glass completely missing leaving only the metal frame behind. What was once a technological bastian had been reduced to rot and decay. Progress was slow and steady then. Society enjoyed technological advances at their leisure. Now only months apart, Colin stood as the usurper to his predecessor. He wondered how long it would be until the next upgrade would replace him.

          He narrowed in on a section of the ground floor that was haphazardly boarded up with loose plywood. The nails that held them in place had been hollowed out by repeated use as though people had removed and replaced the boards multiple times.

          “We can make our way through here,” he gestured over to Eldridge who was looking at their surroundings. “I am not currently detecting any significant amount of movement. Thermal readings appear normal as well however, there may be vagrants inside. We should proceed with caution,” Colin said.

          “Right, I’ll take point,” Eldridge said.

          “With all due respect officer, I feel like I should take the lead. Should anything happen, I will be able to withstand an attack while you call for backup,” Colin said as he continued to monitor for signs of activity inside.

          “Did they program you with a martyr complex or something? Why’re you volunteering to be the bait after what just happened?” Eldridge said with concern.

          “It is my nature, officer. It is why I was created. The events of last night only serve as evidence to support that purpose. No one was harmed other than myself. Despite the unfavorable outcome, I am standing before you now ready and able to pursue another lead. Humans are not afforded the same opportunity, therefore, the threat of danger should be my responsibility.” Eldridge yanked Colin’s shoulder in an effort to get the android to face him. The pupils of Colin’s eyes had an overlay of various sensory detection programs running. His stare pierced through the programs causing them to disappear as he met with Eldridge’s concerned gaze.

          “Fuck that. If we’re working together, then we’re working  _ together _ . We keep each other safe and we don’t needlessly sacrifice ourselves. I don’t give a fuck if you’re easily replaceable. I’d rather be safe than sorry and avoid that whole mess all together. You’ll take point, I’ll provide cover. Our priority is recovering any evidence if there’s any available. Should something go wrong, you focus on keeping yourself safe and I’ll do the same for me. If, and only if, you're safe, then you can worry about everything else. Are we clear?” Eldridge’s grip tightened on Colin’s shoulder as he implored him to heed his words.

          “Officer-”

          “Colin please, just do me a favor and follow orders this time. We can debate ethics and philosophy later.”

          “As you wish officer,” Colin said, registering the order. Colin's protocol knew that the orders ran contrary to his objectives yet deference to humans was also a part of his protocol, especially when the order came from a man who has been nothing but kind to him. He gave Eldridge a look before removing the board and entered the building.

 

          They walked into a hollowed out interior that only served to make the 6 floor factory feel more expansive than it actually was. Decades worth of debris littered the floor. The walls had deteriorated a considerable amount and exposed the copper rust on the building’s skeletal structure. Graffiti seemed to cover every possible surface. The wind flowed freely throughout the shattered windows and echoed through the vacancy. Eldridge unhooked his sidearm and allowed Colin to take the lead in securing the area.

          “The shutters are on the south side. They would have gone through there,” Eldridge whispered as low as he could. Despite his efforts,his voice carried far beyond where they stood until it dissolved into the expanse. They both noted how sound traveled and acknowledged that they would only speak if necessary. Eldridge signaled to proceed forward.

          Colin walked a few meters ahead of Eldridge as he analyzed the area for anything resembling tire tracks or a disturbance in the debris. Light flooded the south side from a shattered window that he began to walk towards. An anomaly appeared in his scans in the form of a small electrical component on the floor. He knelt to retrieve it amidst the dust. An analysis showed that it was a damaged GPS component which was likely the signal that led them here. He made eye contact with Eldridge and said in a hushed whisper, “We may have been intentionally led here.”

          An alertness ran through Eldridge’s arms and down his spine. He shook it off and regain some of his resolve. He tried to press forward but a sharp pain ripped through his bones as the building flooded with a sharp, piercing noise. His vision boiled to a searing white as he clasped his ears and fell to the floor. He struggled to contain his screams but the high pitched whir gradually began to increase and any modicum of composure he had completely unraveled. Colin darted over Eldridge’s body and activated his sound dampeners. Eldridge bouts of pain slowly subsided as his labored breathing filled their now silent shell. Colin waited for him to regain his senses. His vision pulsed as he sensed movement from up above. He honed in on the collapsed ceiling overhead and spotted a pair of yellow glowing eyes that peered below in sinister satisfaction.

          “W-what the fuck was that? What happened to all the noise?” Eldridge asked dazedly. His uniform was matted in a heavy coat of dust as he wearily reached over to retrieve his glock.

          “I'll explain later. We're not alone.” Colin reached over and hoisted Eldridge up to his feet before assuming a defensive stance.

          “Try to stay within 10 meter radius of me to avoid that sound,” Colin said as Eldridge took point behind him. Dust from the concrete ceiling began to fall as something walked across towards the dilapidated edge. Colin ushered them away from the clearing and back behind rows of pillars in order to provide some cover. Eldridge aimed at where Colin held his attention when a body slid off the corner and collapsed onto the ground.

          It fell face down using its hands to absorb the shock. Colin and Eldridge made no effort to move as they watched it settle in deafening silence. Despite the glowing eyes Colin had seen earlier, it wasn’t wearing the standard issue Cyberlife clothing that indicated its model. Its dark and tattered clothes showed weeks worth of dirt embedded into the fibers. The exposed skin of its hands writhed and glitched revealing its pearlescent exoskeleton. For a moment it laid still until its head began to slowly rotate towards them. The glow of its eyes peering at them from underneath its arm bore holes into them. From his vantage point, Colin saw a wide smile begin to creep across its face as he leapt into the air and began rushing towards them with determined vigor. Its arms flailed wildly and without purpose, as though it were a marionette whose strings had been cut. It propelled itself off the ground and launched towards Colin, hands outstretched for his neck. 

          Colin took a fighting stance grounding his back leg before aiming at the android’s head. Colin punched upward making contact with its chin, sending it flying into the air as he spun and kicked it off to the side.

          The android collided with a concrete pillar causing it to collapse on top of it. Though its legs were trapped it began manically trying to dig its way out of the rubble completely unconcerned with its predicament. Eldridge walked around Colin and raised his gun but Colin motioned for him to hold.

          “It may have pertinent information as to how it acquired the virus if we can contain it. We will need to bring it intact,” Colin said. 

          “Are you fuckin’ serious right now? Look at the thing. It’s flappin’ around like a bat outta hell. We can’t bring that thing into the station!”

          “We have to try. It’s the only lead available to us right now. The victims may still be alive. We owe it to them to do what we can to secure their safe return.” Eldridge was swayed by Colin’s level of altruism yet how much of that was concern for the victims or towards the success of the mission he couldn’t say. Still, regardless of his motives he couldn’t very well argue with it.

          “Any idea how to neutralize it then?”

          “There's an opening on the abdomen, the switch is inside. We need to pin its arms down so that we can open the hatch.”

          “Don't let it make contact. Any sign of danger and I’m shooting the damn thing. Info be damned,” Eldridge said, eyes locking back on the thrashing android. 

          “A warning officer: When we advance the sound barrier will be useless due to the close proximity of the source,” Colin cautioned.

          “Yeah I figured as much. Just do it before I realize how bad of an idea this is,” He said with as much resolve as he could. 

          The android desperately tried to free itself, throwing what debris it could. The crazed smile never left its face. It struggled in vain to lift the heavy piece of concrete that had its legs pinned. Eldridge inched forward, gun locked to its head. The android didn’t seem to acknowledge their presence. Being trapped only served to intensify its erratic verve. It began to claw at its legs until the fabric of its tattered jeans gave way allowing it to trigger the release that severed its leg. It began to violently shake its body in an effort to rip its remaining leg off.

          Colin rushed over and slammed his knee into its neck, pinning both wrists down with swift precision.

          “Open the hatch!” Colin yelled as he struggled to hold the android down. Eldridge rushed over and fell to the side of the android. He swiftly lifted the dark jacket up revealing a marred abdomen. The pale skin vibrated as it glitched in and out across the body with an orange glow. Eldridge tossed his gun in front of him as he felt around the stomach and chest area for some indentation yet finding none. Eldridge tried to call out but the high pitched tone began to spew out from the androids mouth forcing him to cover his ears. His head vibrated as the tone pierced throughout his entire body. The intensity of the sound only increased as the android struggled under Colin’s weight. The androids maniacal grin seemed to grow wider.

          Colin turned to see Eldridge tightly curled on his side as he writhed in pain. His yells of agony were drowned out by the sustained shriek that filled the air. He lifted his hand that held the android’s arm in place, stuck his fingers into its mouth, and tore its jaw with considerable force. Silence blanketed the building as the remaining notes dissolved into the brick and mortar. Blue blood sprayed across Colin’s face obscuring his vision as he felt a hand grab hold of his throat. Despite missing its jaw, the android’s cheshire grin was still plastered across its face. All at once his systems flared up in warning at the attempt to break through his defenses. The familiar sensation seared throughout his body setting his skin ablaze around the point of contact. In a quick motion, Colin wrenched through the fabric of the jacket exposing the torso in full. He punched through the plating on the abdomen, heaved the shutter off its hinges, dove straight in and dismantled the power connectors.

          The grip on his throat stayed firm as he felt his processes slip away from him. Having already been exposed once before, his systems were able to adapt to the assault, but the coding had changed significantly. He clasped the android’s hand and tore it off his neck. He took a moment to recover as he watched the light drain from the androids eyes. 

_           It’s evolving _ , he thought. The skin around his neck began to settle back to its normal state as the orange embers along the glitched edges were snuffed out. His defenses slowly repaired themselves as he turned to look at Eldridge’s motionless body. He reached over and placed two fingers along the length of the officer’s neck and was relieved to find a pulse. He got off his knees and sat between the two bodies around him. The gray dust streaked across the dark black of his suit. His vision pulsed as he scanned his surroundings for any other traces of movement and found none. A signal made itself known and he answered the incoming call.

          “What happened? There was a breech, something was trying to take over your systems,” Luciana said in a subdued panic. Colin turned towards the android that laid motionless behind him. 

          “It seems as though we were expected. An ambulance is required. Officer Cunningham alive but unresponsive.” He reached over and brushed his thumb against the top lip of the now expressionless face.

          “I’ll contact the paramedics. Notify me of any changes,” Luciana said as she cut the feed. Blue blood collected on the surface of Colin’s thumb. He raised it to his mouth and ingested the sample.

 

[analysing]

[registered model: PL600]

[serial number: 501 743 923]

[registered name: Simon] 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll give it a few days before I add Simon to the list of characters in the tags. Didn't want to ruin the surprise for the people who're subscribed to this story. I didn't really have plans to include Simon or any of the other androids in this story since it was just gonna be focused on RK900 and Gavin but I've changed the direction of the story since the last time I've posed. Figured since I was gonna take my time and it's gonna be a long story, why not include one of the characters I initially fell in love with.


End file.
